


Lockwood Part 6

by Jadders92



Series: Lockwood [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus, Death, Elder Wand (Harry Potter), Engagement, F/M, Family, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gryffindor, Hogwarts, Horcruxes, Hufflepuff, Love, Magic, Marriage, Prophecy, Quidditch, Ravenclaw, Second War with Voldemort, Slytherin, War, Wedding, Werewolves, Wolfsbane, lockwood - Freeform, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:24:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 56,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22640164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadders92/pseuds/Jadders92
Summary: The Second War has begun. The fighting is about to start. The Lockwoods are being put under immense strain. Remus is trying to do what's right, but no one really knows how this will all really end or if anyone will survive.All with bathe in the fury of the wolves.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin/Original Female Character(s), Remus Lupin/Reader
Series: Lockwood [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/485492
Comments: 61
Kudos: 44





	1. Engaged

I watched Remus organising dry clothes in the bedroom, he would sometimes walk past the door and smile at me in the bath. It was soothing my back and it was the best thing for me while I was still recovering. 

We sat at the bottom of the stairs for far too long just talking about anything and everything that came to mind and it was bliss. It felt like when we first became comfortable with each other, when we were getting to know each other, when I felt that constant nervousness and worry that I was doing things wrong or not expressing myself the way I should have been. 

Remus had been so kind and gentle, he slid his hands over mine and felt the shape of the ring over my finger. He told me more about his mother and how much he wished he could have taken me somewhere to propose properly, but I didn’t care so much about that. None of it felt anti-climatic, it felt epic. It felt everlasting. 

‘Feel any better?’ Remus asked sitting beside the bath tub, running his hand through his hair and smiling uncontrollably. 

‘Yeah.’ I whispered. My whole body felt relaxed apart from the one throbbing spot in my lower back, but there was little that could be done about that for the time being, I just needed to rest. 

‘You look tired,’ Remus ran his thumb over my eyebrow to stop water dripping into my eye. ‘Why don’t we get you back into bed and I’ll make some tea? Are you hungry?’

‘A little.’ I bit my lip, smiling was starting to hurt as much as my back.

‘Okay, I’ll bring something up for you.’ He didn’t move just yet. ‘The calendar says that the Monkshood needs watering tonight, do I need to put anything else in with the water? Any fertiliser or anything like that?’

‘No, just water.’ 

‘Okay, I’ll do that after you’re in bed.’ I couldn’t help my chuckling. ‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ I said, not exactly sure of why I was laughing, but it was something to do with his kindness and how it wasn’t a big deal in the slightest. ‘Thank you.’

‘You’re more than welcome.’ Remus softly kissed my forehead and helped me out of the bath steadily. He wrapped a warm towel around my body, holding me close to him for a moment or two so I could feel the natural warmth he had, but soon I was back in one of his old t-shirts and green cardigan, getting comfortable in our bed.

I noticed he’d changed the sheets as well, I was laying in fresh maroon sheets, looking out of the window that sat opposite the door and saw the snow-capped mountains across the lake. I could smell the fresh air where Remus had opened the window a little, it didn’t feel like the same day as Benji arriving to tell me about Umbridge.

I could hear Remus in the garden watering my plants, he didn’t need to, he never needed to do anything like that, but he did and it warmed my heart to think he actually enjoyed doing these little things for me. I let my eyes close for a moment and just absorbed the sound of my fiancée pottering about the garden while I rested. I felt my cheeks hurting again with the same smile and wondered if this was what my life was supposed to look like. Was I supposed to come out of Hogwarts, find a job, marry Remus and have a life in this house with him? If that was what my life was supposed to be then I was happy with that, I tried not to let my mind wander to the harsh reminder that my life was so much more complicated, instead I focused on trying to imagine Remus in the garden, going about his business, being happy.

When I opened my eyes again, it was dark, I’d slept a little longer than I wanted to, but Remus was sitting in bed next to me, reading a book I didn’t recognise.

‘I thought you might fall asleep.’ He chuckled, realising I was awake without looking at me. ‘You were exhausted, so I thought it best to leave you for a while.’ He marked the page in his book and looked down at me in the dim candlelight.

‘I missed the sunset.’ I wasn’t sure why that felt important.

‘There will be others.’ Remus chuckled. ‘And we can watch them together.’ He settled a little further down the bed so that his face was directly opposite mine. ‘We can watch the sunrise instead if you want, or I can make you some more tea?’ I half smiled, knowing that the one he’d made me before I fell asleep would most definitely be cold, but there was something else I needed from him, something much more urgent.

‘My back hurts.’ I whispered, feeling the pain flaring.

Remus almost leapt off the bed and began gently pulling the sheets away so that I could turn to lie on my front. He disappeared into the bathroom and came back with the pain ointment he’d been using to soothe the muscle surrounding the break.

‘That’s it, just relax.’ Remus said and lay back down on the bed next to me, lifting the bottom of my t-shirt to reveal my back. He had a sad expression for a moment, before taking a breath and carefully massaging the ointment into the pain area. The second he touched my skin I felt so much better, the pain eased, the muscle didn’t feel as tense and I took a deep breath of relief. ‘Is that better?’

‘Yes.’ I breathed and looked up at his concentrated face. Remus didn’t seem to notice straight away, he was much more focused on his task. ‘I’m going to marry you.’ I whispered. His blue eyes snapped to mine and darkened slightly as he smiled widely once again.

‘Yes, you are.’ Remus finished up with the ointment and put it on his bedside table, settling down next to me once again. ‘If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to do it sooner rather than later. I don’t want to waste anymore time, Angelina.’

I understood perfectly. There was no more time to wait to tell someone that you loved them and if this was what I could do to tell Remus that, then that was just fine by me. 

‘The second Jocelyne finds out, we’ll be married within the week.’ I said and we began laughing until it hurt.

Remus’s entire being was lifted and ignited. The simple thought that he would marry Angelina Lockwood was a dizzying and euphoric one. He took her to her parents’ home to announce the engagement and her mother didn’t stop crying for nearly an hour, her father laughed and Darren hugged her gently, unable to contain his emotions. 

Benji, Jocelyne, David, James and Lily eventually came over with the twins, Sirius and Lyall and it was a fairly timid celebration. Angelina still wasn’t recovered enough to take part in a full celebration and that was just fine, David and Sirius appeared to be the new party animals and told stories about Remus and Angelina in school, some of which Remus was embarrassed by and some that he was fully aware he shouldn’t have known about with Angelina. 

The woman in question was enjoying the spectacle and sat close to Remus, holding his hand, letting him run his thumb over her engagement ring. Sirius spent most of the time laughing and dancing with Lily, Jocelyne and Anna, he was careful with Angelina, not spinning her around like he did with the others, instead he was slow and kind to her, something Remus appreciated immensely. 

Remus soon felt a mild jealousy and stood up to take over. Sirius gently span her into his arms and it made her giggle sweetly. Everyone else was occupied with their own conversations or dancing with whoever was closest, but Remus didn’t care so much about them at that moment, he was more concerned with the bright eyes of the woman gently swaying in his arms.

He laughed a little and placed a soft kiss to her forehead, smelling that sweet, light scent that he always associated with her. ‘You’re tired.’ He said, quietly, making her chuckle and slide her hand up his chest into his hair. Remus held her other hand against his chest and gently massaged the muscles in her lower back, just trying to make this last as long as he could. 

‘I think Jocelyne is already planning.’ Angelina sighed with a smile.

‘I think you might be right.’ Remus chuckled. ‘It might be too soon to ask, but have you thought about what you want.’

‘Like what?’ She frowned and it only made Remus smile a little wider. 

‘Like time or place?’ Remus clarified.

‘Oh...’ clearly it wasn’t something she’d thought about at all and that was okay, he didn’t mind in the slightest. ‘Erm, not really. Have you?’

Remus shrugged a little. ‘I’ve thought a little about it, but nothing in any great depth.’

‘Really?’

‘Angelina, I’ve been planning to ask you to marry me for nearly six years now,’ Remus chuckled. ‘Of course I’ve put a little thought into it.’ He could see her starting to panic slightly and quickly made amends. ‘You don’t need to worry, most of what I hope for is fairly timid.’

She giggled and nodded in understanding.

‘Angelina, I know this may seem somewhat overwhelming given everything that has happened recently, but believe me when I say that everyone will be happier to know that there’s a little more love in world.’ Remus assured her and it seemed to be the statement that settled her the most. 

They danced for a few minutes longer before it was clear Angelina was starting to really struggle with her back. They sat at the kitchen table while George made up a quick pain relief for her. It was only then that Remus noticed Darren had made a very quiet exit some hours before, he’d been so wrapped up in Angelina that he barely noticed her brother leaving the house. Remus knew it was for the best, he knew it wasn’t Darren’s fault exactly, but he still couldn’t forgive him for what happened to Clara and Darren probably knew that.

Angelina looked up at him with a small frown, before smiling again. Benji and Jocelyne carried their sleeping children towards the garden to apparate home and Angelina was desperate to see them out.

‘They’re so big now.’ She said to Jocelyne, kissing both of her god children.

‘You’re telling me.’ Jocelyne said, much more quietly so as not to disturb them. ‘Congratulations Angie, I’m so happy for you and don’t worry about a thing, your mum and I were talking about plans for the wedding, it’s going to be amazing.’

‘Nothing too fancy though,’ Angelina whined as Remus wandered up behind her, noting that she was leaning on the fence to support herself. ‘We don’t need anything huge or anything that draws too much attention, you can at least give me that.’

‘Low key and cute, don’t worry, we’re already on it.’ Jocelyne winked and leaned up to peck Remus on the cheek. ‘Thank God you finally proposed, I thought it’d be another century before you two finally made it official.’

‘Well, timing is everything.’ Remus said rather cryptically, making Angelina smile knowingly. ‘But Angelina is right, I don’t think either of us will cope very well if the wedding is much like yours, just something quiet and out of the way will be more than enough.’

‘We’re all over it Remus, we know what you guys are like and believe me, my wedding could have been a lot bigger if I’d had my way.’ 

‘Jocelyne, we need to get going.’ Benji interrupted, shaking his head with a smile. ‘Leave them be, we need to get these two home and into bed.’

‘I’ll see you soon.’ Angelina promised and hugged her friends once again, watching them walk to the end of the garden to apparate. 

Remus was once again haunted by the image he’d seen in the Mirror of Erised, Angelina and his son, happy and healthy. It was still something he knew could never happen, he could never put a child at risk in such a way, but he could marry Angelina and be a good husband, it was the least he could do for her.

‘Do you want to stay here tonight?’ Remus suddenly asked, helping her back into the house. ‘I know your father was a little worried about your back, maybe we could let him keep an eye on you for a night. It might at least help him feel a bit more settled.’

‘Yeah, I know he worries too much.’ Angelina chuckled. ‘And I don’t think I could make the walk back to the house right now, I’m far too tired.’

‘Why did you put the apparation site so far away then?’ Remus chuckled, but it seemed it wasn’t a laughing matter.

‘So that we could be safe.’ She frowned and Remus just looked down into the familiar, confused, blue eyes he remembered from her time at school. 

‘Angelina, we are safe.’ Remus said. ‘Our house sits in the middle of nowhere and no one except our family and friends know we’re there and anyone who does know thinks there’s a great big werewolf protecting the whole area. How much safer could we be?’

Angelina just maintained her frown. ‘I can’t risk it not being enough. I have to make sure we’re as safe as we can be.’ It was a simple statement and showed her entire intent for the future, Angelina had no intention of letting any harm come to either herself or him, she was going to any length she thought necessary to ensure it.

‘Okay,’ Remus nodded. ‘You’re probably right. We could always be safer.’ If it made her feel better then Remus would simply let her do whatever she needed to do to feel safe. ‘Come on, lets get you into bed.’


	2. Rilee

Over the next few weeks during the summer, the Order were making slow and frustrating progress, it was difficult to say whether anyone really believed Voldemort had returned, especially with the Daily Prophet denying it. Argus Taylor who had written some very complimentary articles about both James Potter and Angelina was fired for continuing his support of the both of them. It left very little in the way of positive publicity for the Tornadoes and the shop, both of which saw James sitting on the bench for most matches and really only the regular customers coming back.

Remus could see Angelina was stressed when she was away from the house, she was still meditating with Darren and trying to explain things to Remus in a way he could understand, but it was a very hard thing to wrap his head around. As far as he could understand it, she was trying to put an orb in a cage.

‘The brothers don’t exactly live inside our souls,’ she tried again one evening when he brought it up after dinner. ‘They live as a separate entity next to our souls, but very visible inside the expanse of them, it looks like an orb floating in the sky. Darren’s is a little thinner than mine because he has been allowing his brother access, what I’m trying to help him do is cage it off so that the brother can’t get to him.’ She sighed and looked out at the forest. ‘The problem is that I can’t stay for very long and expect to maintain the concentration needed… this is really old magic we’re tampering with, but if we don’t do something soon…’ She let her head hang a little lower and Remus immediately stood up to wrap his arms around her waist.

‘Angelina, I know I don’t understand this as well as you’d like me to,’ he said, quietly into her thick blonde hair. ‘I know that I may never understand it at all, but I believe that you are the only one who can figure this out and do what is best for your family.’

He felt her still for a moment. ‘Our family.’ She said and turned her head towards him. ‘You’re my family as well, you keep forgetting that.’

Remus sniggered into her hair. ‘I don’t forget, I just keep remembering you’re still a Lockwood, not a Lupin just yet.’

Angelina half laughed, relaxing back into him and thought for a while. ‘Angelina Glamora Lupin. It sounds right, doesn’t it?’

‘I think so.’ Remus frowned, thinking on what a name really meant. What did being a Lupin really mean? He suddenly felt like Angelina deserved so much more than that and wondered very briefly if this was one huge mistake. 

Angelina turned in his arms to face him and smiled, gently leaning up to kiss him as softly as she could. ‘I’m in love with you, Remus Lupin.’ She whispered, he could feel the outline of her ring against his neck. ‘Never forget that.’ 

Remus gently stroked her cheek. ‘Never.’ He promised and pressed a much firmer kiss to her. He stayed against her for the longest time, not caring that they had the house to tidy before going to bed, not really caring either that she had her plants and research equipment to deal with. All Remus cared about was how good she felt in his hands, how soft her skin was, how warm her mouth felt and how wonderfully she was responding to his thumb tracing over her hip beneath her shirt.

He suddenly stopped and smiled against her mouth.

‘We’ll never get the house clean if you carry on.’ He chuckled, kissing her lightly once again.

‘It’ll still be messy tomorrow.’

‘As tempting as you are, you’re still technically recovering.’ Remus reasoned, not wanting anything to slow her spine’s repairing. ‘Two more days and I’ll make it up to you.’ He kissed her again, hating that he was being the responsible one. ‘I promise.’

‘Fine.’ She pouted and Remus just laughed at her reluctantly moved away to start tidying the kitchen.

They spent the evening cleaning and relaxing in bed. Remus read out loud after Angelina complained her eyes were too sore, he didn’t mind it, in truth, he liked her resting against his shoulder, following along with what he was reading. She smelt wonderful and he couldn’t wait until her back was fully healed.

The next day Remus finally went to Diagon Alley to pick up Angelina’s new owl, she was ready to be taken home and Remus couldn’t wait for Angelina to see the beautiful young barn owl in the new owlery beside Ruben. Remus didn’t dare name her, not before Angelina had the chance to see her.

When he returned, his fiancée was only just waking up properly, she was making some tea and brought down an extra mug hearing him enter through the front door.

‘There you are,’ Angelina yawned, her hair was up in a loose bun, exposing her slender neck. She wore his green cardigan hanging loosely around her elbows, probably being too tired to wear it properly, her thick beige socks barely covered her calves and the loose grey t-shirt stopped at the top of her thighs. Stunning. ‘I got your note. What was so urgent in Diagon Alley?’

Angelina turned to see the cage Remus held in his hand. She stopped in her tracks, a huge grin started to appear on her face and Remus knew he’d done well that morning. 

‘Well, I see you have been busy this morning.’ Angelina said, carefully moving the morning paper out of the way so that Remus could place the young, nervous owl on the kitchen table.

‘I just thought, seeing as you said she was ready to be picked up, it might be nice to wake up to.’ Remus shrugged and stood back to let Angelina get a closer look and open the door to the cage. ‘She seems a little nervous?’

‘That’s okay,’ Angelina opened the cage door wide and allowed the little bird all the room in the world to come out. ‘I’m sure Ruben will help her out of her shell in no time.’ Ruben was busy drinking large quantities of water from a bowl in the corner of the kitchen, he was old now and needed more water than when he was a young owl with her at Hogwarts. ‘Jocelyne is coming over today, by the way.’

‘Oh right?’ Remus finished making the tea.

‘Yeah, she wants to talk about the wedding, I said we’d be around.’

‘I see.’ Remus took a breath which didn’t go unnoticed by Angelina. ‘I’m nervous.’ He admitted.

‘Me too.’ Angelina chuckled, finding a smaller bowl to fill with food so that she could tempt the new addition out of her cage. ‘Look, I know Jocelyne can be full on, but she really loves this stuff and you know she’ll be able to plan a better wedding than either of us could.’

‘I know,’ Remus nodded placing the tea down next Angelina, while he sat next to her. ‘It doesn’t stop me being nervous though. While her wedding was beautiful and exactly what she wanted, I am worried that ours will be… crowded.’

‘It won’t be that crowded.’ She reasoned. ‘Family only, I reckon.’

‘Family?’ Remus frowned, didn’t she want her friends to see her marry?

‘Yeah, Lockwoods, Lupins, Meyers, Potters, Sirius and David. Family.’ Angelina smiled and refocused her attention on the owl. 

Remus couldn’t help but watch her at work, she was so focussed and patient with the creature, he wondered how she had become so controlled since her time at school when she was erratic at best. Remus sipped his tea and simply absorbed the way his fiancée had changed over the years, he remembered that curious young girl from first year, the one who was never afraid, just curious and begging to understand the things she didn’t, to the woman before him, brave, smart, inquisitive, focussed and filled with a deep and unbreakable love for her family. Remus was certain now more than ever that she would go to any length to protect her family. It was a somewhat frightening concept.

‘We need a name.’ She said, quietly watching the owl eat from her hand. It had taken a while, but Angelina wasn’t going to give up on the tiny bird. 

‘What name do you think seems appropriate for such a brave young owl?’ Remus swallowed the last mouthful of tea and gently place the mug down. 

Angelina smiled, gently biting her lip in the most desirable of ways. ‘What about Rilee? A brave name for a brave owl.’

‘Ruben and Rilee. Sounds like quite the pair.’ Remus nodded.

The older owl in question had hopped onto the table startling young Rilee and it took a while, but eventually she was calm enough to accept Ruben into her space. 

Remus soon helped Ruben into the Owlery, following Angelina with Rilee in her cage. She felt it was best while the new owl was so nervous to give her a place to hide should she have needed it. 

Jocelyne was beyond excited to plan Angie’s wedding, she knew exactly what to do for her best friend. She turned up at the apparation site and sighed hating that it was so far away from the house, why couldn’t she just put it at the end of the garden like everyone else? 

Jocelyne trudged all the way to the front door, noting that it was open and simply let herself in as per Angie’s instructions. 

‘…alright, well, just get dressed and I’ll take care of it.’ Remus called as he quickly descended the stairs. ‘Jocelyne.’ He smiled, gesturing for her to head into the kitchen ahead of him. ‘How are you? I trust it was a safe trip over.’

‘It was a long trip,’ Jocelyne sighed while Remus began making her some tea. ‘Why can’t you guys have a site closer to actual house? You know, like normal people?’

‘I’m afraid that’s Angelina’s doing,’ he chuckled. ‘She feels we’d be safer in the long run.’ 

Jocelyne just rolled her eyes putting her bag down and settling at the table. ‘Of course, she does, that’s our Angie, always thinking of safety above convenience.’ Remus just smiled and brought down a couple of mugs. ‘How long will she be?’

‘Not long, she was drying her hair when I came down.’

‘Right, well, while I’ve got you here, have you got any thoughts about the wedding that you want kept from Angie? Any little things you want me to take into consideration? Place? Time? People? Honeymoon? Anything like that.’

Remus seemed to glance upwards as if Angie could hear him thinking about it. ‘Actually, I had rather hoped we could go back to Reykjavik. I know she enjoyed her time there… I think it would be nice to go back for a while.’

‘Reykjavik.’ Jocelyne nodded, noting it down in a small notebook. ‘Okay, I’m sure we can work something out.’

Angelina soon descended and greeted Jocelyne like a sister. They talked about the wedding a little more and both Angelina and Remus suddenly looked as though they’d hardly thought on the ceremony itself, but rather the actual marriage. Jocelyne had paused for a moment to realise that that was what it was all about, it was never about a single day, it was about the rest of their lives and the time they were going to have with each other. 

Jocelyne watched the two of them move around their home together and she suddenly had the perfect idea for the wedding.


	3. The Advance Guard

The shop was still doing well despite the attack in Knockturn Alley, I was glad at least for the werewolves that still felt like they could come to us for help, but Remus was the one who was eager to go and help as much as possible. Casper was making visits to the greenhouses in Cornwall to check up on a few methods for growing better and stronger plants, we had a good working relationship with them and while he was away, Remus was taking over the desk duties where he could.

He didn’t exactly brag about me, but I heard from Alice he’d used our engagement to scare off a young witch who’d been routinely flirting with him. She wasn’t a werewolf, she didn’t even know any werewolves, but she had taken a keen interested in my fiancée and I couldn’t stop my laughter at hearing the story. It was just about the only thing making me laugh these days, the little stories that Remus or anyone else was telling.

I’d heard from Benji about the incident with the dementors when Harry was staying with Mrs Figg, the details were a little vague, but the word about the hearing was as clear as day. What was Fudge thinking? Calling up the entire Wizengamot for a bit of underage magic was unheard of, there must have been something else going on, but I trusted Dumbledore would see Harry was taken care of.

Remus made good on his promise and the second I was recovered and able to physically function properly, he kept me in bed for the whole day, making me laugh and telling me stories about all sorts of things he could think of, it was bliss, no responsibilities and no other priorities other than what was in front of me.

‘We’ll be married in a few weeks.’ Remus said, kissing the top of my head. His hand was gently stroking down my shoulder while I lay against him trying to read my book. It was only by the dim light of the candle next to the bed that I was able to see anything at all.

‘That soon?’ I felt a whip of panic, I wasn’t sure I was quite ready for that.

‘Jocelyne thought 6th September was a nice date, it’ll still be warm out as well and we all know how much you hate the cold.’ Remus kissed my head again, I knew he could feel my nervousness. ‘I’m nervous as well, don’t worry.’

‘You’ll tell me I look good right? Even if I don’t?’ I knew it was a small and somewhat pathetic thing to be worried about. ‘I’m not exactly a dress person.’

Remus began shaking a little, it made me put my book down and turn to face him. 

‘Why are you laughing?’ I asked, confused at his reaction.

‘Because I still have the picture of you at Jocelyne’s wedding,’ he chuckled. ‘You wore a very well fitting red dress and I thought you were the picture of beauty.’ Remus slid his hand up my jaw and looked over my face. ‘Believe me when I say that any dress you wear will suit you extraordinarily well and I will not hesitate to make that known to you.’ He gently kissed me and I felt myself deflate with relief.

‘Good.’ I whispered and kissed him once more before finally settling down against his chest to sleep, I was exhausted. ‘That’s good.’ I breathed before darkness fell behind my eyes.

Remus was a little unhappy that Angelina was asked to collect Harry from Mrs Figg’s house, it was only supposed to be him, James, Kingsley and Mad-Eye, but Dumbledore saw fit to add Angelina, Benji and Tonks to the list, just to be safe. He didn’t mind her being around, but there was a chance they could be attacked on the way to Grimmauld Place and with how tired she had been lately, Remus knew he would be distracted from the job at hand.

‘It’ll be fine.’ She smiled up at him as they entered into Mrs Figg’s house, quietly. ‘Just focus on Harry and I’ll focus on you.’

Remus smiled back at her, hoping it provided some form of assurance that he would try, but he knew his doubts would shine through so clearly. Harry was packed and ready to go the second the Advanced Guard turned up on the doorstep, apparently he’d grown so bored and tired of Mrs Figg that he’d thought about the chance to leave every moment he had to himself.

‘Angie?’ Harry frowned, Remus had been standing in front of Angelina and Benji who were staying close together behind Remus. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here, congratulations by the way.’

‘Oh, thank you…’ Remus smiled at her reddening cheeks.

‘Alright, that’s enough of that.’ Mad-eye cut in. ‘We’ve got a schedule to keep to. You can catch up on formalities when we get there.’

‘Where are we going?’ Harry asked. It was James to tell him it was somewhere safe and that was all he needed to know for now.

Angelina and Benji stuck together and would be leading the group, with James staying close to Harry, Remus on the other side, Tonks below and Mad-Eye above, Kingsley was the extra broom holding up the rear. The night was cold and Remus knew that Angelina would hate it, he made a plan to ensure she had a cup of tea and something warm to eat when they got to Grimmauld Place, before she looked back and chuckled at him. Remus suddenly remembered he needed to focus on Harry and not her for the journey.

Once they arrived, he could see she was shivering, but she didn’t let her guard down, she pulled her long black coat tighter around her body and made sure the street was clear.

‘Okay, come on. Harry, you first.’ She encouraged Harry to step forward before Mad-Eye handed him a piece of paper. 

12 Grimmauld Place began to appear in front of them and Harry gazed up at it in wonder, Remus forgot he didn’t spend much time there and probably hadn’t seen a house concealed in this way too many times in his life. Even Remus had to admit how impressive it was at times.

They stayed as quiet as they could, James telling Harry to head upstairs to Ron and Hermione, whilst everyone else piled into the already full kitchen. Remus immediately grabbed two mugs and made Angelina some tea to help her warm up. He sat opposite her, next to Sirius and finally began listening to what Dumbledore and Snape were saying.

The meeting was longer than expected, Angelina looked distracted most of the time, but managed to answer any direct questions Dumbledore had for her. She and Remus were making so little progress in the werewolf community that they may as well have been doing nothing at all. 

‘…with regards to Harry himself,’ Dumbledore moved on, making the Potters sit up a little. ‘I’ll leave most of the decision making up to James and Lily, but I believe it imperative that we do not let it be known to him the true nature of what Voldemort is searching for. Keeping him shielded from any important details may well help us to gain the upper hand.’

Remus turned to Angelina completely by chance to see her head snapping up and a deep frown settling in.

‘So, we’re not going to tell him anything?’ She asked, making most of the table turn around to stare at her for interrupting Dumbledore.

‘For now, yes,’ The Headmaster nodded. ‘We will see what the-‘

‘I’m sorry, but that doesn’t seem right to me.’

‘Angie-‘ Benji tried to calm her down.

‘No, I’m sorry, but how can we prepare him if he knows nothing of what Voldemort is planning.’

‘He’s just a boy, Angie,’ Mrs Weasley piped up. ‘A fifteen-year-old child.’

‘I was fifteen!’ Angelina snapped and no one dared speak just yet. ‘I was fifteen years old and I sat in your office,’ she stood up and gestured to Dumbledore. ‘And you asked me to save the world! I was woefully unprepared because you chose to keep things from me, you kept everything a secret, you knew fine well about my family and you chose to say nothing… and now you’re doing the same thing to Harry.’

‘It’s not the same, Angie.’ Mrs Weasley again spoke up. ‘You had incredible potential and I don’t mean to say that Harry doesn’t, Lily, but the circumstances are entirely different.’

Angelina frowned and Remus caught the exchange of looks between James and Lily.

‘This is unbelievable.’ Angelina half laughed. ‘You’re sending him back to Hogwarts with no information on what’s going on. Say you leave the school for whatever reason and Voldemort decides to attack, which we all know is not beneath him to attack a school full of children, what happens then? Harry will have no idea what to do, who to contact or how to defend himself. Are you honestly telling me you think that is best for him?’

‘That is what I am asking you, yes.’ Dumbledore said diplomatically. Remus could see Angelina thinking hard.

‘I’m not saying we tell him everything.’ Angelina tried one more time. ‘Some details should be kept in house, but you can’t send him back with nothing. You just can’t.’

‘I’ll say no more on the subject, Angie.’ Dumbledore said with a firm finality on the subject. ‘This meeting is concluded, you all have your tasks… good luck.’

Angelina held Dumbledore’s gaze for just a moment and Remus sighed heavily, trying not to give away his disappointment.

They stayed for dinner, Remus kept a close eye on Angelina, but soon it was obvious she couldn’t bear to be in the house much longer and they left before dessert, much to the disappointment of Molly.

‘Angelina-‘ Remus made three or four long strides to catch up with her on their way back to the house.

‘How can he do this?’ She demanded. ‘He is deliberately keeping things from Harry, things he should know!’

‘Dumbledore doesn’t think he should know them right now.’ Remus countered.

‘Dumbledore doesn’t understand Harry’s position!’ Angelina snapped back and turned to face him.

‘And you do?’

Angelina went quiet for a moment, before continuing to walk back to the house.

‘I lost so much weight,’ she said quietly, taking her long black coat off and hanging in in the cupboard beneath the stairs. ‘I cried more times than I ever told anyone, I felt so alone when I found out Snape was giving you my potion, like no one was going to help me no matter what I did or what I was supposed to be. You have no idea how angry I was for so long… Harry can’t be left on his own, it’s too much.’ 

Remus found himself wrapping his arms around the waist of his fiancée and letting her cry into his shoulder. He knew full well that this wasn’t just about Harry, Angelina had so much on her mind lately and anymore pressure was a risk of finding her breaking point. Remus couldn’t allow that to happen.

‘Angelina,’ he breathed into her soft hair. ‘I’m so sorry you felt so alone, but Harry isn’t alone while you are looking out for his best interests so fiercely. Angelina, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more we can do until Dumbledore asks it of us, he will help Harry while he’s at Hogwarts, we need to trust he knows what he’s doing.’

Angelina sighed, finally her body relaxed. ‘Yeah… yeah, I suppose we do.’ 

She felt deflated, exhausted, Remus had never felt her body like this before, it was as if everything about her was drained, what had happened to her? And why didn’t he notice sooner.

‘I need to stop lying to you.’ Angelina began crying. ‘I’m so sorry, Remus. Please help me stop lying.’ Remus felt her knees give in and just before her body failed her entirely, Remus lifted her onto the comfy brown sofa that they often shared in the evenings, keeping her legs draped over his and his arms cradling her against his chest.

‘What did you lie about?’ Remus said, a little more firmly than he intended. His mind was telling him that she had betrayed him, broke a fundamental rule of their relationship by lying about anything, but his heart was telling him that he knew this woman inside and out and if she was this upset, then it might not have been quite as bad as he thought.

‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ She sobbed into his neck. ‘I just want to run away and never hurt you ever again, I don’t want you to be in pain because of me anymore. You don’t deserve me.’

Remus just looked into her wet, ocean blue eyes and sighed, placing a soft kiss to her cheeks. ‘You remember Reykjavik, when I told you I didn’t care what kind of life we had, as long as I get to spend it with you?’ Angelina sniffed, while Remus continued to place small, soft kisses to every patch of skin he could reach. ‘Do you remember that?’

‘Yes.’ She breathed.

‘I wanted to marry you then,’ Remus whispered. ‘And now that I am so close to doing just that, nothing is going to deter me from that…’ Remus gently pulled her chin up so he could see her glistening cheeks. ‘This house was your dream, marrying you is mine, Angelina.’ 

It took her a long time to think, a long time to really understand him, but she eventually came to her conclusion and nodded. ‘Okay…’

‘Okay.’ Remus smiled and placed a slightly firmer kiss to her lips, letting his hand drift up her thigh and sighing into the feeling. ‘Now… why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you? Why are you so upset?’ She half laughed, thinking about something for a moment, before deciding to speak up.

‘I just… I feel like I turned out wrong.’ Angelina whispered. ‘I feel like I didn’t turn out the way people expected me to… there’s so much I wish I could have done differently.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like, the tournament, the wolfsbane, Bulgaria, Tibet… everything.’ Angelina took a deep stuttered breath and all Remus could do was watch her. ‘Why couldn’t I just do as I was told and stay home? Why couldn’t I just stay with you? Be normal?’

Remus half smiled and sighed, leaning on the back of the sofa and watching her for a moment. ‘Angelina, you didn’t turn out wrong.’ Remus slid his hand into her hair and began massaging the back of her neck. ‘You are beautiful, I promise you didn’t turn out wrong, you just… you’ve had some hard choices to make, you’ve done your best and no one can ask that you do anymore.’ Remus kissed her forehead and breathed her in. ‘As long as you stick to what you believe to be right, as long as you continue to make the choices that you think will benefit the most people, then everything will be okay… I believe that.’ 

Remus just watched her for a while, it seemed that Angelina didn’t have much more to say, or rather she was too tired to go into any detail. He sighed and moved to give her a little more room. 

‘What are you doing tomorrow?’ Remus asked, quietly. Angelina just shook her head, indicating she had nothing to do. ‘Well, how about you stay home with me? Let me take of you for a while?’

Her eyes seemed suddenly brighter, like the prospect of not having to do anything was one she had been craving for far too long now. Remus smiled and kissed her forehead softly.

‘This war, no matter how long or short will exhausted us all,’ he whispered. ‘I can’t have you not taking the time you need rest when you have the opportunity to.’ 

‘Thank you.’ Angelina breathed.

They sat on the sofa for a little while longer before Remus carried her up to bed, gently removing her clothes and settling in next to her. He looked out at the sky which was entirely black, save for the glistening dots that were thousands of stars floating above them. It was something that Remus hadn’t quite thought about or counted on, but they lived in the middle of nowhere and no light reached them for miles; it was the perfect setting in which to see every star in the universe from the comfort of the home they were just starting to build together. Beautiful.


	4. Stag and Hen

Remus had been so kind and caring the following day, he’d made me breakfast, done the morning rounds with Ruben and Rilee, taking in the post and rewarding Rilee for her first postal flight, he then went on to water the garden that was growing nicely and even grabbed a couple of extra blankets for the sofa where we spent most of the day, reading and listening to music on the radio. 

He opened up the back and front door to let the summer breeze drift through the entire house and every so often he would go into the kitchen and make some tea for the both of us. When he came back, I would let my head rest on his lap and listen to whatever book he was reading, letting his fingers drag through my hair. 

In the evening, Remus made dinner, banishing me from the kitchen for the most part, before running a bath for me. I drew the line at bathing alone and sure enough Remus put some more music on and joined me. I loved feeling his heartbeat beneath his skin, the water was warm enough that I could feel the blood circulating in his body, it was rhythmic and comforting. Everything about him was comforting and I tried so hard to hold onto that feeling. 

At one point, I felt his fingers tracing every scar on my body and I mentally thought about every time I’d been in real danger. Remus had always been the one I could rely on to get me out of those hard times, the oncoming war would be no different. It was only when he reached the scars on my shoulder, the one he’d made that I found myself thinking on a much harsher memory. How had I gone so long without him? I never wanted to be without him again, I never wanted feel such pain or loneliness ever again. 

‘I love you, Angelina.’ Remus whispered into my hair, it was only then I realised my eyes were closed and I was simply feeling his long, slender fingers working their way over my body. ‘I’ll always love you.’ He softly traced kisses down my hair, my neck and let his lips drift over my shoulder for a while, but the water was growing cold and I was ready for bed.

Jocelyne had been so stressed with the planning of the wedding that Benji had given her strict orders to relax a week before Angie and Remus finally married. 

Harry’s hearing had gone as well as could have been expected with Dumbledore coming in to make the save and he had been sent back to Hogwarts, Angie still arguing the entire time that he should be told something and Sirius not exactly disagreeing, everyone agreed that they would need to be watched a little more closely. The problem with that was they were talking about Sirius Black, the first inmate to ever escape Azkaban unnoticed and Angie Lockwood, the woman who defined stealth and secrecy. 

Jocelyne tried to convince Angie that this was something that they needed to trust Dumbledore on, but it was Benji who put the argument to bed by saying that this wasn’t the war they needed to fight right now. It was cryptic and Benji refused to elaborate fully until after the wedding, but it shut Angie up in a way Jocelyne had never seen before. Her husband often kept secrets, it was his job to keep his family safe and after nearly seven years of being married to an Auror, fifteen being friends with Angie, she knew better than to push for answers just yet.

‘Jocelyne? I’m home.’ Benji called from the front door. Jocelyne had started putting up a silencing charm on Harper and Jackson’s room to stop them being woken up, he always forgot they went to bed before he got in. ‘Sorry!’ He whispered loudly as he entered the newly refurbished kitchen. It was now blue cupboards and cream surfaces and everything Jocelyne had been looking for in a kitchen. 

Benji kissed her cheek while she was making him some tea, Jocelyne could feel how tired he was, he’d been pulled in every direction constantly for the last few weeks ever since Voldemort returned, it was a looming question whether he would even come home some nights. ‘Had a good day?’ She asked and listened to him sighing the way he usually did.

‘It was fine, Mad-Eye is still ranting and raving about Harry’s protection and Kingsley is still having no luck with the minister.’ He said, grabbing a biscuit from the jar on the windowsill and sitting down at the pinewood kitchen table, the one he liked and the one Jocelyne wanted to paint blue on the legs and cream on the surface. ‘Still having trouble locating these bloody packs though, they’ve started moving around at speed and we all know why. Dumbledore wants me to just track of them for now, monitor where they’re going and see if there’s any regular hideouts, but… I don’t know, they’re aren’t really moving like that and its… very peculiar.’

‘Maybe Angie can help once she’s back from the honeymoon?’ Jocelyne poured the boiling water into the biggest mug she could find. 

‘Actually, I might ask her to stop by the office this week,’ Jocelyne could hear Benji frowning. ‘It’ll be a good excuse to get her into the ministry.’

‘Why do need an excuse? Just ask her to come and see you?’

Benji was silent for a moment and Jocelyne knew he was keeping something to himself, but if there was a reason that Angie couldn’t go to the ministry without there having to be an ulterior motive then she wanted to know.

‘Has Angie done something?’ Jocelyne sat the tea down in front of Benji who shifted uncomfortably.

‘I don’t like lying to you, but I need to be careful what I tell you.’ Benji said, quietly. He ran his hand through his thick red hair and sighed. ‘Angie thinks a war is about to start, not the one with Voldemort, but the Lockwood war… she wants to go back to the Alban Hills and there are other things she needs to do…’

‘Like what?’ Jocelyne leaned back against the counter and folded her arms. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’

‘I don’t know just yet.’ Benji wasn’t lying, she could see that much, but he was very worried and that scared Jocelyne more than he could ever know. Benji seemed to hesitate for a moment before making the decision to admit to something. ‘She found Clara.’

‘She found her?!’

‘Jocelyne, you can’t tell Angie I told you, I only found out the truth from Sirius a few weeks ago and I’m pretty sure David knows more than he’s letting on.’ Benji sighed and ran his hand over his face. ‘Come and sit down.’ Jocelyne did as she was told, feeling her stomach start to knot. Benji held her hand and she knew it was serious. ‘This is going to be really hard, but I can’t wait until after the wedding to tell you, you just need to try and hold on until then to talk to Angie, alright?’

‘You’re starting to worry me now, love?’

Benji took a breath. ‘It was Darren… the brother inside him took control and he… he killed her while she slept… got rid of the body over the cliff near their house.’ 

Jocelyne took her hand away, the shock and horror began to hit, she suddenly realised that she hadn’t seen Clara for years now, why had she never asked about where she was?

‘Darren?’ Jocelyne barely made a sound.

‘It wasn’t really him, the way Sirius was saying it he didn’t even know what was happening, Darren just woke up one day and she was gone.’ Benji kept his voice low and it was just about the only thing stopping Jocelyne from panicking too much, but she still couldn’t understand what he was saying. 

As far as she was concerned Darren Lockwood was a loving, caring and kind soul, incapable of violence and rarely ever quick to anger, unlike his sister who was renowned for it in their school days. It didn’t make any sense at all, how could someone so compassionate even be accused of such a thing? Benji gave her all the time in the world to come to any conclusion at all, but Jocelyne wasn’t reaching one any time soon.

‘Look love,’ Benji finally whispered. ‘Darren isn’t a bad person, only Angie knows the truth of what happened, but do you honestly think Darren was in any control at all? To do something like that?’ Jocelyne shook her head and felt a few tears shake loose from her eyes. ‘Come here.’ Benji knelt in front of his wife and brought her into his gentle embrace. ‘I wanted to wait until the wedding was over before telling you, but things are moving so quickly it’s been difficult for me to keep up. I need you to help me stay focussed, the same way you always have… you know how unbearable I can be at times.’ Even that couldn’t pull a small laugh from her. ‘Jocelyne… are you alright?’

‘No.’ Jocelyne breathed and began silently crying into her husband’s shoulder. 

‘Come on now, love,’ Benji did his best to support her. ‘You need to stay strong now, Harper and Jackson need us to be strong… everything will be alright, you’ll see.’

Jocelyne cried as quietly as she could, trying not to disturb the kids who were now old enough to be more aware of what was going on around them. 

It took a long time to really understand what had happened, but after a week of talking to Benji and trying to comprehend any details he had, Jocelyne was marginally more settled. She put the finishing touches on the wedding and travelled north to see her friend. 

Remus was staying at Grimmauld Place the night before the wedding with Sirius and James and probably avoiding drinking anything Sirius put in front of him. Angie on the other hand was just the same old Angie, she was outside in her garden that was growing by the day, Ruben watching her from his perch near the owlery and a much smaller owl flying somewhat erratically around her head.

‘Angie!’ Jocelyne adjusted the carrier in her hands and waved to her friend. Angie waved back but it took her a while to actually wander over. She put the small owl back into the owlery and it was only then that Jocelyne saw how much she was shaking. ‘Are you okay?’

‘Yeah.’ Angie nodded, but it was the same nod she used to give in school before a big Quidditch game.

‘You’re nervous.’ Jocelyne smiled kindly and it only made Angie half laugh. ‘It’s okay, I was nervous as well, an absolute wreck the night before, but it was worth it.’

‘I’m just…’ Angie swallowed and leaned against the owlery door, Jocelyne noted she was wearing Remus’s cardigan over her tight, white vest. ‘What if I mess it up? What if I forget what I’m supposed to say? Or I don’t look right? I already told Remus I’m not really a dress person, I never have been, you were always the one that looked better in them than me and I’ve never known him not to be wearing a suit at least twice a week and I just feel like the whole thing isn’t really me… I mean the wedding, not the marriage bit... why are you smiling?’

‘Because you are the smartest woman I’ve ever known and you’re still thick as they come.’ Jocelyne laughed, but Angie just frowned. ‘Come on, your mum said she was going to come over and look at the dress with me, let’s get some tea on before she gets here.’

Jocelyne took Angie inside and realised it was the first time since the announcement that she had been inside her house, everything looked very well put together. The living room was cosy with a huge fireplace in front of a large brown sofa which had very clear indents where the two of them had sat night after night together, books were scattered all over the coffee table and some were piled up on the floor. The bannister on the stairs was finally painted white, something Remus had kept saying he wanted to finish at some point and Jocelyne felt a warmth in her heart as she looked over the spot he’d asked the question.

The kitchen was the complete opposite of Jocelyne’s, it was a little messy and the whole thing was brown and natural wood. It felt so Angie, nothing cosmetic or fake, it was simple, classic and homely. The kitchen table had been pushed to one side and was covered with a stack of Wolfsbane that Angie had been messing around with at some point. She quickly moved it and dumped it into the sink, getting a couple of black mugs down to start making them tea. 

Jocelyne hung the carrier up on the door that led into their large dining room which again was covered with books and plants.

‘Remus really needs to get you some kind of store cupboard for all these plants, Angie.’ Jocelyne noted wandering back into the kitchen and leaning against the counter.

‘What?’ She frowned. ‘Oh right, yeah, it’s been a bit hectic the last few weeks with the shop and everything and… well, you know.’

‘Everything is going to be fine, you know that Angie,’ Jocelyne laughed. ‘All you’re doing tomorrow is putting on a fancy dress, getting a new ring and telling Remus that you love him. You’ve done all those things before, haven’t you?’ Angie shrugged. ‘Trust me, it’s going to be perfect.’

Angie’s shoulders deflated as she sighed and poured the water into the mugs. ‘Yeah, I suppose it is.’

‘Good… now will you please try this dress on so I can tell you how hot you look, yet again.’ Jocelyne managed to pull a half laugh from her friend and it was the best she could manage until Anna finally arrived.

They spent a long couple of hours staring at Angie in the dress and discussing any small changes that needed to be made and talking about how they wanted to do her hair, all of it making Angie roll her eyes, shake with nervousness and grow steadily more bored of the entire ordeal. 

Jocelyne soon noted down everything she needed to do that night and Angie began making some dinner. She looked much more comfortable in Remus’s cardigan and her leggings than she did wearing anything else. It was sweet and so domestic, the complete opposite of what Jocelyne thought Angie’s life would be. Ever since she fought a dragon, Jocelyne had been coming to terms with the fact that Angie was not a woman who had the luxury of a quiet life, no matter how much she may have wanted one.

‘That smells good.’ Jocelyne wandered downstairs after finishing up the dress and saw that Angie had been in her own world, staring out of the window towards the darkened woods. ‘What are you making?’

‘Oh, it’s just some pizza, Remus usually does dinner, but sometimes I get to do it.’ Angie half smiled.

‘Well, it smells amazing and I am very much looking forward to eating at Chef du Lockwood.’ Jocelyne said, knowing that she was still nervous and worried, but nothing that a little wine couldn’t fix. 

‘That doesn’t make sense.’ Finally a half laugh as Jocelyne began rummaging around in the cupboards.

‘No, but anything in French sounds classy.’ She argued and finally found Remus’s stash of good wine. ‘Ah hah!’

‘That’s the good stuff, he’ll not forgive you for drinking it.’ Angie warned, half meaning it.

‘Oh come on, Angie, live a little… I actually cannot believe I’m telling you to live a little.’ Jocelyne ignored the warning and grabbed two glasses, filling them half way up. ‘Can’t have too much before tomorrow, you need your beauty sleep.’

Angie just shook her head laughing to herself and took the pizza out of the oven, how had she suddenly become such a good cook? 

‘My mum taught me this one,’ she said, slicing it up. ‘It was when she was fighting the first war, she took me and Darren into the kitchen one Saturday morning and taught us how to make pizza, cheesecake, chocolate muffins, all sorts of things. She said they’d come in useful one day, she called them ancient Wheeler secrets, only to be shared amongst family.’

‘Wheeler?’

‘My mum’s maiden name, she went from Wheeler to Lockwood.’ Angie stopped cutting and looked down at the pizza for a moment. ‘Do you feel like a Meyers? I mean, you went from being a McDermott to a Meyers, does it feel different?’

Jocelyne sighed and gently took the knife from Angie, finishing it off for her. ‘Honestly, I don’t feel like I’ve changed much since first year, ever since I stumbled upon the wrong carriage on the train and found a bloody Lockwood sitting in it.’ That pulled another small smile from Angie. ‘It was just a name, I didn’t stop being the person that I am, my parents are still my parents, Benji is still the man I love, you and David are still my best friends and I still can’t perfect the bloody shield charm as well as I’d like to.’ Jocelyne indicated to Angie to grabbed the wine and the glasses and followed Jocelyne into the living room. Angie looked towards the fireplace which was immediately set ablaze, Jocelyne was well used to her being able to do such extraordinary things. They settled on the sofa and Jocelyne put the pizza plate between them, taking her wine glass from Angie. ‘Thing is Angie, I’ve watched you change so much over the years and I never placed any value on your name, I was always in love with the person you were trying to be, we all are. A name is just a name, Lockwood or Lupin, they don’t mean anything unless you think they do, it’s all about who you are inside.’

Angie just watched Jocelyne for a moment, suddenly a thousand thoughts began darting around behind her big ocean eyes. ‘Thank you for being here.’ She whispered.

‘You think I’d leave you on your own the night before your wedding?’ Jocelyne smiled. ‘You might have gotten an idea and gone running off in the night.’

Angie suddenly broke out in the widest smile Jocelyne had seen all night. ‘So, you’re only here to keep me on house arrest?’

‘Exactly, that is, in fact, the only reason.’ Jocelyne laughed and sipped her wine. ‘I drew the short straw.’ Angie began laughing and it sounded like a laugh of relief more than anything, something Jocelyne found very curious.

‘It’s going to be okay, isn’t it?’ She asked, leaning back on the sofa and finally starting to relax.

‘Yes, it will. I promise, everything will be fine.’ Jocelyne assured her and eventually she was able to get Angie to relax enough to reminisce over memories, each one seemed so crystal clear to Angie, as if she could play out the whole thing exactly as it happened, no blurred edges or uncertain details. 

‘Will you do something for me?’ Angie asked, she was getting tired after staring at the fire for too long.

‘Of course.’

‘Will you make sure I remember something? I have a feeling I’ll forget before this is all over.’ Jocelyne sat up, a little more than curious about what her best friend was about to ask her. ‘Will you remind me that this is his dream? The house was mine, but the wedding is his and it’s just about the only thing that’s keeping me from running away.’

Jocelyne watched her watery blue eyes almost pleading and promised that she would remind Angie if ever she forgot.

The way she spoke about Remus was always a sight to behold, he was the one thing in her life that she couldn’t exactly pinpoint in anyway, but she seemed so happy and almost excited over that, as if his existence alone was the most extraordinary thing.

Remus was nervous, so incredibly nervous. He stayed quiet while James and Sirius began talking about old school pranks they played on each other and others who they believed to have deserved it. Remus was glad he was amongst his closest friends, everything they’d been through with the war and Harry, Sirius in Azkaban and finally with Angelina, everything his life had been up to that point he felt was just the start of a wonderful beginning to something better.

‘Come on, Moony, get drinking.’ Sirius encouraged, to which Remus just sighed and finished the whiskey in front of him. James just laughed and did the same. Sirius refilled their glasses and the shadow of his laughter was still present on his face. He was looking much healthier than he had been previously, something he blamed entirely on Molly’s cooking, despite their differences.

‘So, nervous yet?’ James sat back in his chair and put his feet up on the kitchen table, making Sirius roll his eyes.

‘Very.’ Remus nodded. ‘Well… not so nervous yet.’

‘I remember you were a wreck,’ Sirius pointed to James. ‘Couldn’t sit still for five minutes to get his bloody tie on, nearly made us late for the whole thing! You remember how furious Lily was?’ Remus couldn’t help but laugh as he remembered that day as well.

‘I couldn’t help it! I was young.’ James defended.

‘That’s no excuse not to put your trousers on and start wandering around asking us all if we thought your shoes were shiny enough!’ 

The three of them began roaring with laughter and Remus soon felt tired enough to go to bed. In the morning he would be marrying Angelina Lockwood, in the morning he would be staring at his future, the rest of his life would slot into place and finally he could be happy with who he was as a person, he could ignore the temptation to call himself a monster, he could be a good husband and he could spend every day until the end of time proving that he was good enough for her. 

Remus sat on the end of his bed, staring at his suit, his old brown shoes that Angelina liked and began crying. He was so happy and he wasn’t even there yet. This time tomorrow he would be her husband.


	5. I Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I really hope I did them justice!

I felt sick, tired and sick, nothing worse than waking up knowing you barely got any sleep on a day where you were supposed to be well-rested. Jocelyne had fallen asleep next to me, I couldn’t be without someone sleeping close to me, she argued that I was supposed to sleep alone because it was some kind of symbol of innocence, but when I frowned at her not quite understanding her meaning, she just sighed and got in next to me. I loved her.

By the time I needed to actually get up, Jocelyne was already making tea and getting things ready. She was making me even more nervous and my instinct was to go up into my lab and research. It was my safe place, my comfort zone, but Jocelyne wouldn’t let me do any of it, she just kept telling me to take a shower and try not to think too much on the day.

‘Focus on tomorrow, Angie.’ She kept saying, but the problem was, I had no idea what I would be doing tomorrow. Possibly watering the garden, spending time with Remus, making him some tea while he read on the dock beside the lake? That would be nice, nothing too fancy, just spending time with him would be exactly what I needed.

I thought back to the first time I’d met Remus, he was Professor Lupin back then and he was the new shabby young Dark Arts teacher, I had no idea how important he would become. I remembered the first time I’d seen him staggering out of the Forbidden Forest, I felt incredibly sorry for him and I only wanted to help, he had a wild look in his eye that now put a small fear in me, a fear I’d almost come to treasure, because it meant that I understood now, I understood that that side of Remus was dangerous and not to be toyed with the way I had been so willing to do once.

Maybe I had changed, maybe I had become somehow better… maybe "better" wasn’t the right word, but I was certainly more wary and cautious than I once had been, was that better? 

‘Stop it.’ Jocelyne said firmly, I realised I’d stopped midway through eating my toast and was staring off at the woods outside my kitchen window.

‘What?’

‘Stop thinking, eat your breakfast and stop worrying about things you can’t do anything about.’ Jocelyne was exasperated, I gave her a weak smile and did as I was told, it was the only time I ever did. 

We eventually left the house and made our way to my parent’s home. There was a nice spot behind the house that looked out at an open field leading to the hills I used walk over with my parents and Darren, the view was something I’d never quite appreciated before now.

‘Angie, come on!’ Jocelyne demanded. ‘We need to get you ready.’

My mother came out and it was clear she’d already been crying.

‘Oh Angie, you’re here.’ She said and wrapped her warm arms around me. I always thought she looked so pretty without makeup, but she often hated her complexion. I wondered if I would grow to think something similar about myself. ‘Dad’s just finishing the seating arrangements with the boys, let’s get you inside and ready.’ I could see the tears forming again in the corners of her beautiful blue eyes and followed her inside the house. 

The house was tidier than I’d ever seen it before, had they done all this just for me? It was the sight of Harper and Jackson that had a new smile forcing it’s way to my face.

‘Hey!’ I exclaimed and pulled them both in for a hug in the middle of the clear kitchen, Harper was giggling, her curly red hair was exactly like her dads and it made me smile far too much. Jackson’s hair was straight like Jocelyne’s and it was getting lighter. They were so beautiful. ‘You guys ready for today?’

‘I’m wearing a blue dress!’ Harper cheered.

‘Really?’ I joined in the excitement. ‘I’m wearing a cream one that your mum picked out for me.’

‘She picked mine as well! It’s pretty!’

‘I’m sure it is, your mum has great taste.’ I said and kissed the side of her head, turning to Jackson. ‘What about you? Are you wearing a blue dress as well?’

‘No!’ Jackson laughed, playfully stamping his feet and shaking his head. 

‘No? Well, you can hardly go out with no clothes on Jackson Meyers.’ 

‘I’m not wearing nothing, I’m wearing that!’ He pointed as a small grey suit hanging on a wooden chair next to Harper’s dress, it had a blue tie the same colour as the dress and I knew instantly that he would look just as handsome as his dad. 

‘That is a very smart suit,’ I smiled. ‘Did your mum pick that one as well?’

‘No, I did!’ Jackson said, rather defiantly.

‘Really?! Well, you’ve got great taste as well then.’ I laughed and pulled him in for another hug. ‘I’m so glad you’re both here, makes me feel so much better that all my family are together.’

‘Right, come on you two,’ Jocelyne cut in, she was noticeably less stressed seeing me with her children. ‘Let’s go and find your dad, he’s probably having a beer with David already.’ She playfully rolled her eyes and guided the twins away. 

‘They’re getting big.’ I said, watching Jocelyne walk with them out into the garden.

‘I remember when you were that age,’ my mum commented behind me, I turned to see her gesturing up the stairs. ‘Always running after Darren, trying to keep up and play all these ridiculous games he made up… time does fly Angie.’ There seemed to be a weight to the statement that I wasn’t quite ready for, but I didn’t push the subject.

We went up to my old room which was so different to the way I remembered, the bed was on the other side of the room, clean white sheets with a blanket I didn’t recognise on the end. My certificates and trophies were still in the same place next to the door and I still felt sick looking at them, maybe everything didn’t always change. 

My mother was incredibly excited to start getting me ready, but she took her time with every step, she had me sit down in front of the full length mirror as she began to brush my hair which had somehow gotten tangled since getting out of the shower. She told me stories about her wedding and how she was just happy that her family was able to make it, she told me about her father walking her down the aisle and how dad cried when he saw her.

‘Why did he cry?’ I frowned and found myself unconsciously playing with my engagement ring.

‘Because he was happy, Angie.’ My mother laughed, looking at me through the mirror. ‘I’m sure Remus will be the same, so happy he can’t contain himself… and it’ll probably take you by surprise as well. It always does on your wedding day, you remember what Jocelyne was like?’ I laughed remembering how much she cried and how confusing the whole thing had been for me.

I watched my mother put the finishing touches on my hair and with each strand of hair that was put into place, I grew steadily more nervous as I knew the time was getting closer and closer. 

‘There we are.’ My mother stood back and I looked at her work. I honestly wasn’t sure if I looked good enough for Remus, but she was getting emotional and that had to be good enough for now. 

‘How are we doing?’ Jocelyne came into the room and quietly closed the door behind her, she looked incredible. She wore her hair up in bun, her makeup was complimentary to her soft features and her navy dress made her look like the Jocelyne I remembered from school. ‘Oh Angie, you look gorgeous!’

‘You really think so?’ I grimaced. 

‘Well, once you’ve got the dress on it’ll be perfect, but trust me, you look amazing.’ Jocelyne smiled and turned to my mother. ‘I like the hair, I wasn’t sure when you said about only tying part of it back, but it definitely works.’

I rolled my eyes and sat back down on the chair in front of the mirror.

‘Right, we’ll stop,’ my mother suddenly said and it made Jocelyne half laugh. ‘I need to go and make sure your father is ready anyway, I’ll see you down there.’

Jocelyne watched me from the door as my mother left us alone, she was watching my expression and I felt myself rolling my eyes again.

‘So, are you going to get dressed or what?’ Jocelyne teased. 

‘Yeah.’ I sighed but didn’t actually make a move towards the dress. 

‘Angie, come on, you’re almost there, you just need to walk down the aisle, tell Remus you love him and then it’s all over, you’ll be married.’ She was trying, Merlin love her she was trying so hard.

‘I just need a minute.’ I nodded and took a deep breath. 

My stomach was in knots, I felt like any second I would throw up, why was this so hard for me to do? Jocelyne was right, all I needed to do that day was put on a dress, give Remus a ring and tell him I loved him, nothing I hadn’t done before. So why couldn’t I bring myself to take the next step?

‘You’ll feel better once you’re in the dress, Angie.’ Jocelyne encouraged and began taking it out of the carrier. ‘Remus is going to love you in this… and don’t worry, it’s not too tight so you won’t feel sick wearing it. I learnt that lesson well enough from mine.’ I gave a twitch of a smile, it was all I could muster at that point.

‘Where’s Benji? And David?’ I suddenly asked.

‘Downstairs, Benji is looking after the kids and David is practising.’

‘Practising?’

Jocelyne suddenly looked a little sheepish. ‘Hang on, I’ll get them.’ She rolled her eyes and yelled down the stairs, probably scaring the life out of everyone down there.

‘What? What’s wrong?’ I heard Benji ask the second they got to the door.

‘Just both of you get in here for a moment.’ Jocelyne ordered them.

They were incredibly handsome men, Benji with his grey suit, similar to Jackson’s, but with a black tie and David in his open collar white shirt and brown plaid suit. They looked so good, the way I’d always known them to look. 

‘Angie, you alright?’ David asked through the mirror, placing his hand on my shoulder and smile his charming smile, no wonder he got all the girls in school.

‘What were you practising?’ I frowned.

He quickly looked to Jocelyne who just rolled her eyes and nodded. ‘I was practising what I’m going to say when I marry you.’ I felt my eyes almost fall out of my head. ‘Well, not marry you, but marry you and Remus… you know, to each other… I got ordained, Jocelyne thought it was a good idea.’ 

I stood up slowly, not taking my eyes off of his big brown ones, before suddenly turning to hug him. ‘Thank you.’ I whispered.

David just laughed. ‘It’s okay, Angie.’ He said, holding me tight and I felt myself trying to hold back tears.

‘Don’t you dare cry.’ Jocelyne warned, half meaning it. ‘We don’t have time to redo your eyes, so you’d better keep it together Lockwood.’ 

I couldn’t help but finally laugh. I let David go and tried to compose myself. 

‘What’s wrong Angie?’ Benji asked, gently. ‘You’re not having second thoughts, are you?’

‘No.’ I shook my head, I definitely wasn’t having second thoughts about marrying Remus. ‘I just… I just want to be married to him, but all this is just… I keep thinking about your wedding and my mum was telling me about hers… it’s just so scary.’

‘Angie, this isn’t going to be like ours,’ Benji chuckled, stepping forward so he could hold my hand in an effort to comfort me. ‘Jocelyne has done an amazing job ensuring that none of this will be overwhelming for you and quite frankly I’m jealous.’ That made me chuckle. ‘You don’t need to worry, we’re all going to be there making sure you’re okay.’

‘We’re not leaving you Angie, we’re right here.’ David nodded.

‘Well, actually, I’d rather not be here when you’re getting changed.’ Benji confessed. 

‘Don’t worry, I’ve been here before,’ David winked. ‘Why don’t you two head down and make sure Remus is alright? I’ll take care of Angie.’

‘You sure?’ Jocelyne asked, surprised. ‘I can help with the dress.’

‘Jocelyne, you’ve done enough with this whole thing,’ David stopped her. ‘Go and relax, take care of the kids and do something about Benji’s tie, it’s driving me mad.’

I suddenly noticed that his top button was undone and his tie was a little loose, much to the annoyance of Jocelyne who began questioning when that had happened and why he didn’t say anything. David ushered them out of my bedroom and I just laughed. I loved them so much, they didn’t even know… or maybe they did.

David came back and rolled his eyes, taking his jacket off and getting ready to help me into the dress.

‘Right, come on Lockwood, take those off, let’s get this on.’ David used his no nonsense voice he used with the students and I just laughed, loudly and proudly. ‘There she is!’ He cheered and it was enough to make me take a deep breath and take off Remus’s cardigan that I’d been wearing far too regularly now. 

David was as kind as the days he helped me shower when I was depressed and unable to do things for myself. He folded my clothes and held my dress for me to step into it, sliding the soft fabric up and zipping the back up. I would never have been able to reach it on my own. 

‘There we go.’ David stepped back as I slipped my cream heels on. ‘Good enough to marry.’ He winked and I could help but smile. 

‘I’m still not sure, but I suppose I look okay.’ I shrugged and looked at every part of myself in the mirror. ‘This is going to be fine.’ I found myself playing with the engagement ring once again.

‘Yes, it will.’ David said, gently. He’d put his suit jacket back on and stepped a little towards me. ‘You just need to remember that you wanted a marriage and once you get over all the formalities, you’ll have that. You and Remus will have the marriage you always wanted.’

I sighed tried so hard to focus on that instead of what a disappointment I felt I looked.

‘Are you ready?’ I heard my mother come into my room. ‘Oh Angie… my darling girl.’ She was so beautiful in her silver-grey dress, it was so her, so fitting and elegant and my mother was nothing if not elegant and classy. ‘George, come in here.’

I rolled my eyes not for the first time that day and presumably not for the last. My father looked the picture of handsome, a fitted three-piece navy suit, crisp white shirt and black tie, his grey hair only furthered his handsome and kind features. ‘Angie.’ I’d never seen my father in stunned silence before, it was a strange sight, making me turn to see him. He had tears in the corners of his eyes and soon David left with my mother on his arm. ‘You look so beautiful, Angie.’ He let a few tears go and I wanted so much for him to hug me. 

‘Dad.’ I said, weakly and slid my arms around his neck.

‘I’m so proud of you, my darling girl.’ He whispered and I could feel my father losing control over his emotions. ‘So incredibly proud of you.’ He pulled back and we both just laughed at how ridiculous we were for crying in the middle of my old bedroom on my wedding day. My father carefully wiped away any tears, being careful not to smudge my makeup. ‘Are you ready?’

‘I think so.’ I nodded and quickly took a deep breath looking back in the mirror and making sure everything was as it should have been.

‘Are you happy?’ It seemed like an odd question for my father to suddenly ask. I frowned at his questioning. ‘I’m only asking as a father’s concern. I just want to make sure you’re really happy with everything.’

I turned to face him and smiled. ‘I am happy, dad. I’ll be even happier when this is over and I don’t have wear these bloody heels anymore.’ That pulled a laugh from him and I was glad to see my father smile, it was such a rare occurrence these days.

‘Okay then, let’s go.’

My father held out his arm for me to take and soon we were descending the stairs of my old home to the back garden where my family were, but more importantly where Remus was standing waiting for me to tell him how much I loved him. 

Remus felt his hands getting clammy and his mouth going dry. He wasn’t usually a man who paced, but the second he arrived at the Lockwood home, he needed to keep moving. Sirius was doing his best to keep him calm, but on occasion would tease him about being nervous, so James took over while Lily scolded a laughing Sirius. 

Angelina had already arrived and was upstairs getting ready when he got there. George had told him to use their bedroom to change and James took him up to get ready. 

‘You should have worn those other shoes I told you about.’ James laughed shaking his head. 

‘Angelina likes the brown ones, says they’re more me.’ Remus argued and removed his loose t-shirt before putting on his clean white shirt. He had let James take his suit in a carrier for him, not trusting himself to keep it neat. 

‘Well, this is your day, so you do whatever makes you happy, mate.’ James nodded and handed Remus his dark grey trousers. ‘How are you feeling?’ 

‘Nervous.’ Remus confessed slipping his trousers on and tucking his shirt in with a little more force than he intended.

‘Hey, hey, relax, or you’ll do yourself an injury.’ James laughed and Remus put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath. ‘Why are you so nervous? You want this, right?’

‘Of course, I do!’ Remus snapped and took another calming breath. ‘What if she doesn’t? What if she’s only doing this because she thinks this is what everyone else wants for her? What if I can’t make her happy? What if I can’t give her the things she wants or-‘

‘Okay, okay, that’s enough.’ James took a firmer stance on the matter. ‘Come on, mate, this isn’t you, you know she loves you and you know how stubborn she is. If Angie didn’t want to marry you and spend the rest of her life with you, then you’d know about it.’ Remus sighed and tried to slowly button up his trousers. ‘Come on, what’s this all about?’

‘I don’t know.’ Remus shook his head, truthfully, he had no idea where this was all coming from. ‘I just… I want her to be happy.’

‘Well, that’s not going to happen on it’s own, so you need to make that happen.’ James reasoned and he knew it was playing on Remus’s much more logical mind. It worked, Remus felt a little calmer, the prospect of marrying Angelina to ensure her happiness, that was a good line of thought to follow. 

‘Hey,’ Lily bounded into the room just as Remus was putting his waistcoat on. ‘Your dad’s just arrived.’ She said.

‘Is he alright?’

‘Yeah, George is taking care of him and Harper and Jackson are giving him good cause for entertainment.’ Lily nodded, she was already wearing her long sleeved, emerald dress, it came down to just above her knee and suited her red hair, which was pinned up, very well indeed. 

‘That’s good, I’ll see him when I get down there.’ Remus could feel his hands starting to shake as he thought more on the fact that his mother would miss this day. She always looked forward to it and he always promised it would happen and she would be there to see it. He just couldn’t believe she wouldn’t see him marrying Angelina. 

‘Right, why aren’t you dressed yet?’ Lily directed her questioning at James.

‘I was making sure Moony got dressed.’ He argued.

‘Well, he seems to be doing okay on his own, so go and get your suit on and make sure Sirius stays out of trouble, he’s already excited that David is wandering around.’ 

James sighed and smiled at his wife, kissing her as he left. 

‘You need some help?’ Lily turned to Remus who was now struggling with his tie. He sighed and nodded.

Lily just smiled and wandered over to tie his soft grey-blue tie, making sure it sat beneath his dark grey waistcoat neatly. ‘Angie is going to love you in this, you know?’

‘I hope so.’ Remus smiled and took another deep calming breath. 

‘Hey, there’s no need to be nervous,’ Lily assured him. ‘She’s here, she’s getting ready and according to Jocelyne she’s not panicking too much which apparently is the best-case scenario, right?’

‘Yes, that’s true.’ Remus chuckled. He knew this was difficult for Angelina, not a particularly comfortable experience for either of them, but he knew that they wanted to be married and all the formalities were really for everyone else, he truthfully no longer cared if they had a big celebration, he just wanted to be her husband. ‘I heard David is marrying us?’ Lily gave him a guilty look. ‘How long have you known?’

‘A little while now.’ She admitted, half laughing. ‘How do you feel about that?’

‘David is a good choice, a good advocate for love in all forms and he’ll make Angelina relax if nothing else.’ Remus nodded. ‘I’ve always liked him, he’s a good man.’

‘That he is, he’s good with the kids as well, Harry likes him a lot,’ Lily stood back and looked at her handy work. ‘Says he gets a lot of attention from the female students, but he brushes it off, something you used to do quite a lot of… couldn’t resist them all though, could you?’ Lily winked and it only made Remus’s cheek flush pink.

‘Angelina was different and you know that.’

‘I do, I’m only teasing you.’ Lily smiled. ‘Now get your jacket and shoes on and let’s get you downstairs.’

Remus did as he was told and put his dark blue-grey jacket on, he sat down on the edge of the bed and began tying his shoes.

‘Wait, what are you doing with your hair?’ Lily suddenly asked.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, look at it, it’s a mess.’

‘Erm…’

Lily sighed and wandered out of the bedroom, she was gone for nearly a full ten minutes and all Remus could do was pace and continuously adjust himself. 

‘Right, sit down.’ She said, he did as he was told. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll not do anything extreme, but you can’t go out there with your hair hanging down your face… and I remembered you did this for my wedding which is where all this joking around about me running off with you started.’ Remus laughed, knowing exactly what she was about to do. Remus had slicked his hair back that day, part of him hating that his scars were so on show to everyone, but it seemed they were somehow less noticeable. ‘There we are, though I do wish you’d had a shave before this.’ 

Remus didn’t tell her that Angelina in fact liked his beard, it was a little shorter than normal, but she didn’t care, she liked the feel of it against her skin and that was always a good feeling for him. 

Remus had to admit that when he looked at himself in the mirror, he didn’t think he was entirely unattractive, at least, everything about him was co-ordinated around things Angelina had told him she liked and that was what counted. 

He went down to the kitchen where James handed him some water immediately. Remus had never been more grateful for water in his life, his mouth was incredibly dry. He spotted his father sitting on one of the wooden chairs in the garden, playing with Jackson and Harper who both looked entirely adorable in their dress and suit. 

David and Benji were going over some notes David had and George was co-ordinating the rest of the furniture with Darren and Sirius, both of whom were already dressed and ready for the wedding to take place. Remus felt a small whip in his heart at seeing Darren, he honestly wasn’t sure he wanted him at the wedding, but he was Angelina’s brother and no matter what, that meant he was protected by her. 

Remus sighed and went to sit with his father and the children, indulging in their games for a while, Harper being the more excited to see him with Jackson watching his sister closely. 

The garden looked wonderful, a wooden archway stood behind a small platform where David would conduct the ceremony, there was a silk white wrap that twisted around the archway and white material that Angelina would walk down, something that Remus wanted as his mother had done at her wedding, she was insistent upon it for some reason. Remus suspected it was something to do with innocence and her purity in the magical world, not something that applied to Angelina or himself, but he enjoyed how it looked all the same. 

He spotted a gramophone sitting behind the seats, one of his favourite songs would play when Angelina came out and it was again one of the only things he had asked Jocelyne for, the rest were just requests to keep it simple and small.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Benji and David suddenly rush back into the house and it made Remus stand up, worried that something had happened with Angelina. His heart dropped for a moment, what if she had changed her mind, what if she decided he wasn’t good enough for her, she wouldn’t have been wrong, but he couldn’t handle the idea of being without her.

‘I’m sure she’s fine.’ James said, loosening his tie a little. Remus frowned at him. ‘Jocelyne said Angie would feel better if we were all a bit more relaxed.’

Remus felt a small smile form. ‘Yes, she would. She wouldn’t want anyone to be anything other than themselves for the sake of anything… lose the tie if it’ll make you feel better.’

James turned and laughed at his friend. They waited a little longer before Benji and Jocelyne came out into the garden fussing over Benji’s tie.

‘David’s with her,’ Jocelyne rolled her eyes at Remus. ‘They’re just getting her into the dress, finally.’ 

‘So, she’s alright? Is she nervous? Or worried about anything?’

‘She’s fine Remus.’ Jocelyne assured him. ‘She’s just being Angie, she thinks she doesn’t look good enough, but I’ve seen her looking hot as they come and this tops all of it.’ 

‘Who’s hot as they come?’ Sirius popped up, he was his usual brand of slightly dark and gothic, with his dark purple suit and black open shirt that buttoned halfway down his chest, something that Angelina would love instantly.

‘Angie, but then she’s always been like that.’

‘-been like that.’ Sirius said at the same time as Jocelyne. ‘I’ve heard the rumours.’ He said and let out a bark-like laugh. 

‘Right, best get everyone in the seats,’ Benji said, pointing to where George and Anna were heading upstairs. ‘She’ll be done soon.’

Jocelyne jumped into action and got everyone seated. Remus was glad it wasn’t a huge wedding party, just family, exactly the way Angelina wanted it, everyone sat in amongst each other, including Alfred, Alice and Casper who turned up just in time. Darren sat on the end of an aisle with an empty seat next to him for Anna, Remus thought it was best for everyone that he did, not that they really knew why. 

David came out, adjusting his collar and looking incredibly handsome as he always did back in his school days. He conjured a white rose and attached it to his lapel, making Remus frown and smile in questioning.

‘Angie doesn’t do flowers, but my parents are muggles and told me it’s bad luck for a wedding proceed without them, so this is my small act of rebellion.’ David winked and tried to look somewhat stoic. Remus couldn’t help but laugh and nod, appreciating that once again Angelina’s friends knew her so well. 

Anna came out, wiping away a few tears and suddenly Remus was nervous again. James stood behind him and Jocelyne stood on the other side, waiting for Angelina to take her place, but more likely to help her friend if she got stuck.

He looked down the aisle and caught sight of all the faces that meant so much to him as well as people he was almost certain were invited by Jocelyne, such as the bright redheads of Benji’s parents and the light blonde of Jocelyne’s, the dark messy hair and bright blue eyes belonging to Lockwoods, with Lyall in amongst them and everyone else who wasn’t blood, but to Angelina and Remus were as good as; the Potters, Alfred and Alice, Casper, David and Sirius. 

Remus could see George indicating to Jocelyne that Angelina was about to appear and Remus felt his stomach knot so tightly it almost crippled him. Everyone stood up to watch Angelina as the music began to play and he was glad that he was on a slightly raised platform so he could see her walking all the way towards him.

George smiled and began guiding his daughter on his arm towards Remus. All the air seemed to leave his lungs as he watched the single most extraordinary thing he’d ever seen. She wore a cream, lace dress that came down to just above her knees, revealing her strong slender legs that slotted into simple white lace heels, they were low enough that she was probably okay walking in them and high enough that she wouldn’t have to reach up to kiss him. The dress itself was something to behold, it clung to her every smooth curve so wonderfully, Remus felt a hot rush washing over his entire body. It was long-sleeved with a v-neck that only served to elevate just how sexy he thought she was, it was a word he didn’t often use as it caused her to be abnormally embarrassed, but he couldn’t help but think she was both the sexiest and most beautiful woman he’d ever seen in his life. 

Angelina’s bright blue eyes connected with his almost instantly and her smile was radiant, he could see her every feature and thanked whoever had helped her decide to have her dark blonde hair half up and half down. Remus let his eyes drift over her entire body once more, taking note of anything he may have missed on first glance, including her soft neck which only caused him to have replays of every time he’d kissed her there. And the fact that her dress covered over the scar on her shoulder where she’d been bitten, he was glad he wouldn’t have that memory looming over him throughout the day.

Remus could feel a few tears had escaped his eyes, he just couldn’t believe after all those years of suffering unsure of if he would even be accepted into Hogwarts, being terrified of living alone without friends, enduring torturous transformations without the wolfsbane potion to ease anything, getting wrapped up in a war, feeling the grief and loss of his mother and two of his closest friends, worrying over his father’s health, over Harry’s safety, knowing that his secret would come out at any moment causing him to lose everything he cared about; Remus would do it all again as long as it led to this moment.

George kissed his daughter’s cheek and allowed Remus to hold out a slightly shaky hand to help her up to the platform, she was nervous and a tear had escaped her eye, but she was still smiling and that was worth more to Remus than anything. He could smell her sweet, feminine scent from where he was standing and suddenly his senses were being overwhelmed with everything pleasant and intoxicating.

‘Welcome everyone,’ David said, breaking Remus’s thoughts just a little, he felt his cheeks burning and aching from how much he was smiling, she was radiant. ‘Keeping within the best interests of Remus and Angie, I will try and keep this short and to the point.’ There was a small, polite murmur of laughter. ‘We have been brought here today by the overpowering love of these two individuals and now we are privileged to witness the joining of Remus John Lupin and Angelina Glamora Lockwood in what we all know will be an everlasting union.’ 

Angelina rolled her eyes slightly at the full use of her name, which earned a subtle wink from David as it was the only time he’d ever been able to tease her with her full name and get away with it. He was loving every moment of it.

David pulled out his wand and indicated that they should raise their hands, placing Angelina’s left on top of Remus’s left, she was still very nervous and for whatever reason, Remus gave her a wink which made her chuckle and calm down ever so slightly. With a small flick of his wand David created a silver-white ring, capped with a sparkling white rose, that floated around their hands.

‘This ring symbolises your commitment to one another,’ he continued. ‘It represents the cycle of love, where one of you begins the other ends and where one of you ends the other begins, becoming one eternal life force and one infinite love. Do you, Remus John Lupin, take this wonderful woman to be your wife, to love her, protect her, support her and try your best to keep her out of trouble,’ that earned a small laugh from most of the guests, including Angelina who had already begun shaking again and holding back her tears. ‘From this day until your very last day?’

‘I do.’ Remus felt his voice deepen inadvertently. Angelina took in a sharp breath and tried to breathe as calmly as she could. 

‘And do you, Angelina Glamora Lockwood,’ David put slightly more emphasis on her name much to her amusement. ‘Take this extraordinary man to be your husband, to love him, to protect him, support him and not make his life difficult by keeping out of trouble yourself,’ another laugh. ‘From this day until your very last day?’

Remus felt time slow for just a moment, her glistening blue eyes finding his, her soft cheeks pulled up into a smile, her perfectly pink lips showing off her happiness, he could scarcely believe it was really happening, did he really get so lucky?

‘I do.’ She said and immediately lost a few tears as she laughed with him. 

David brought his wand up as the silvery-white circle began to fade, the rose landed on top of their hands and delicately faded as well. 

‘With the exchange of these two rings…’ David quickly looked around. ‘Jackson, Harper.’ He whispered, the twins bounded up with Benji’s encouragement and handed over one ring to Remus and the other to Angelina who was still shaking. David high fived them both, making her laugh again, before straightening up and continuing on. ‘With the exchange of these two rings,’ he gestured for Remus to go first, who was shaking even more, but concentrating hard on gently sliding the silver band over Angelina’s finger so that it nestled against her engagement ring. ‘One representing the promise of the husband, giving the gift of his name and impossible patience where it is desperately needed,’ that made Remus chuckle. ‘And the other representing the promise of the wife,’ Angelina seemed to lose her smile in order to concentrate on doing the same thing in sliding the ring onto Remus’s finger, but when she had finished, she took another calming breath and clearly felt better for having done it without too much trouble. ‘Giving the gift of commitment and stubborn bravery where it often seen as a gateway for trouble… I now pronounce you husband and wife.’ David took an annoying pause between his next words. ‘You may now kiss.’

Remus knew that people had stood up to clap, but he suddenly couldn’t hear anything except his own heartbeat pounding violently in his ears. He slid gently slid his hands up her impossibly soft jaw, grazing his lips over hers, before putting a small amount of pressure against her mouth, he could feel the vibrations of her humming and the tightening of her hands against his waistcoat. Angelina Lockwood was now his wife.

‘I love you so much, Angelina.’ He whispered between soft kisses.

‘I love you too, Remus.’ She whispered back.

Remus took a moment to absorb the way she said those words, before pulling back and suddenly be able to hear the cheers from the small wedding party. He held her hand and for a while everything that wasn’t Angelina was a blur, he didn’t remember taking any pictures, but he remembered her rolling her eyes and looking up at him to smile, he didn’t remember anyone handing him a drink, but he remembered watched her smooth throat as she swallowed her champagne and he never remembered initiating a kiss, but he remembered the softness of her lips.

Angelina was clearly more nervous about the dancing than she was letting on, so Remus handed her another glass of champagne and winked. ‘I want to dance with you.’ He whispered in her ear and watched the hot pink flush ascend from her chest.

‘Okay.’ She smiled and drank her champagne. 

Remus had loosened his tie at some point over dinner, which was held in the garden while it was still warm beneath a cream canopy. Everyone was enjoying themselves, drinking and laughing, with a few speeches given from James, David, Jocelyne and George. George’s speech was especially heart-warming, stating that after all the uncertainty and the years of heartbreak and joy, he was finally happy to see his daughter happily married to the man she’d always adored. Jocelyne wanted desperately to talk about her time with Angelina at Hogwarts, keeping it appropriate, but Remus knew there were hints of details that only four people in the wedding party understood. David was his usual brand of kind, but funny, delicate, but to the point. And James went straight for the jugular and talked about Remus’s awkward school days.

The music played and Remus brought Angelina up with Jocelyne and Benji and James and Lily supporting them, and they danced. Remus placed his hand gently on her lower back and held her other hand close to his heart. He could feel her two rings against the back of his neck as she softly played with a few loose strands of hair, the lace fabric of her dress was a far more pleasing feeling than he anticipated and it only made her smile as she sensed what he was feeling. 

Remus couldn’t help but bring her body close to his, pressing against him and softly kissing her as he just absorbed the moment being shared between them. 

‘Are you happy?’ She whispered against his mouth, his eyes were still closed as he continued to breath her in and hold her body close to his.

‘Very.’ He whispered back.

‘Good.’

‘I love you Angelina.’

‘I know… I can feel it.’ Remus felt her smile against his mouth, he was sure she could feel more than just his love, but she didn’t say anything, in fact, it was the first time he’d known Angelina to be so quiet with him.

‘Are you happy?’ Remus asked, suddenly unsure of everything. He pulled back to see her darkened blue eyes and a flashing image of the way he looked at her as she approached the platform, skated across his mind.

‘What do you think?’ Angelina said and gently bit her lip. Remus carefully pulled it away from her teeth as he pressed a somewhat more intense kiss to her.

‘I think you love me.’ He breathed. ‘That’s all I need.’

They swayed together for a little longer, before Harper and Jackson running past them, snapped them out of their trancelike state, suddenly becoming aware that there were other people in the room, granted few were paying them any attention, but they both felt a small awkwardness at being so intimate in a public setting. 

‘The sun is going down,’ Remus said. ‘Will you watch it with me?’

Angelina nodded, again her smile didn’t falter, if anything, it grew wider. Remus guided her out to where David, Benji, Jocelyne, Sirius, James and Lily were all sitting together, drinking and laughing.

‘There they are!’ Sirius cheered, standing up with David and dramatically applauding, Angelina moved unconsciously to hide behind Remus. ‘Come on, Moony, get a beer in you, sun’s going down.’ Sirius threw Remus a butterbeer which he caught fantastically well, it was closely followed by another one which Angelina darted out to catch herself, making them laugh. 

‘Remus?’ A voice called from behind. Darren. Remus felt another sharp whip of anger hit him, followed by guilt. ‘Sorry, I’m going to be leaving soon, any chance I could grab a quick word?’

Remus gave him a tight smile and nodded, he took his blue-grey jacket off, handing it to Angelina and indicating she should sit down with her friends and wait. Darren led him behind the house where they wouldn’t be at risk of being overheard by anyone.

‘Look, I don’t want to waste your time,’ Darren suddenly said. ‘So, I’ll just get straight to the point… I’m not stupid, I know that Angie isn’t telling me everything to do with Clara and I know that you know what I did…’ Remus took a calming breath, his anger bubbling beneath his chest. ‘I can’t say I’m sorry and expect that to be enough for you, I’d be a fool if I did, so instead I want to give you something that might help in the long term… I want to make a deal with you…’

Remus had been a while with Darren and I was starting to worry, the sun was getting lower in the sky and it was the longest I’d gone without Remus beside me all day. I couldn’t fathom what Darren would want to talk to him about that I wouldn’t know, but soon Remus came back in slightly better spirits. He smiled a genuine smile, the same one he’d been wearing all day and it warmed my core. 

‘Already stealing my wife, David?’ Remus joked seeing that I had snuggled a little closer to David who was telling some embellished story about Bulgaria. 

‘Remus, let’s be honest, I’ve already stolen her heart, it’s just a matter of time.’ David winked and I could only roll my eyes. The idea of myself and David was almost revolting, he was like my brother and as handsome as he was, he was a pain at the best of times.

‘Darren’s leaving, he wants to say goodbye.’ Remus gestured for me to go and see my brother. 

I wrapped Remus’s soft, warm jacket tighter around my body and suddenly noticed a small exchange of looks between Jocelyne and Benji, I quickly put it out of my mind, kicked off my shoes finally and rushed over to Darren. He looked very handsome in his blue plaid suit and white shirt, but then he always wore a suit very well.

‘Angie.’ He sighed and wrapped his strong arms around me, kissing the side of my head. ‘I’m so happy for you, I’m so proud that you finally did what I didn’t get to.’ His voice was low and I couldn’t help but just take in his presence, I felt like I hadn’t seen anyone except Remus all day. 

‘Thank you for coming, it means the world to me, I hope you know that.’

‘Of course,’ he pulled back and smiled his winning smile. ‘I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.’

‘What were you and Remus talking about?’

‘Nothing important, just giving him the big brother talk, you know?’

‘Seriously?’

‘Well, I didn’t get to do it in the beginning so I decided to indulge myself as per your request of every guest.’ That pulled a laugh from me, it was true, I’d specifically asked that everyone be comfortable and happy as oppose to formal and uncomfortable and it seemed everyone had taken my request seriously. ‘Anyway, I need to get going, first training session of the season tomorrow and I’m not exactly fighting fit at the moment, so I need to rest for a while, but I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and how happy I hope you are with Remus.’

‘I am happy Darren.’

‘Good.’ He nodded. ‘But just remember… no one loves you the way I do, Angie. I’d do anything for you, I hope you know that.’

‘I know.’ I nodded and smiled. ‘You know I’d do the same for you.’

‘I know.’ Darren smiled, but it wasn’t his winning smile, it was a little sadder than that and I was suspicious. ‘Have a good night and I’ll see you soon.’

He wrapped his arms around me again and gave one last smile, before wandering off to the apparation site. I watched him every step of the way and wondered if he was telling me the truth about Remus.

‘Angie!’ David called, I spun around to see them indicating that the sun was setting. ‘Come on, you’re going to miss it.’

I rushed back over to where everyone was sitting observing the sun descending between two hills that I’d walked over so many times with my parents and Darren when I was younger, I missed those days. I felt Remus’s hand reach up to mine, he smiled at me and gently guided me to sit on his lap, his hands rested on my hip and my bare leg, softly and subtly stroking the skin.

He stopped only to hand me my butterbeer with a small wink and a smile, I could feel exactly what was going on in his head and could not wait to get home and reap the benefits of his patience once again. 

We continued to watch the sunset in silence, everyone just absorbing the night air. Remus was much more focussed on placing small kisses against my neck and just below my ear, he did it just enough to keep me warm, but not enough to cause me to need anything more. It suddenly occurred to me how well Remus knew my body, he was the first to really know anything about it and for that, I was glad.

‘Still can’t believe you finally did it.’ Jocelyne’s voice suddenly penetrated the air, causing everyone to snap out of their thoughts and take a moment, before laughing at her statement. ‘Honestly, you have no idea how long we’ve all been waiting for you two to finally get married.’

‘Not as long as me.’ Remus whispered into my hair and I could see his eyes were darker than they had been all day, it was putting a very welcome warmth in the pit of my stomach; luckily no one noticed. 

‘Jocelyne?’ I heard her mother call from the house.

‘Oh, come on, they’ll be heading home with the kids.’ Jocelyne said and took a tired Benji’s hand to say goodnight to the twins who were staying with Jocelyne’s parents that night. 

‘You know, David,’ Remus suddenly said, taking a mouthful of butterbeer and I could feel his mood lightening. ‘I had rather hoped that the next wedding we were at, you would have upped your drinking game and given me better competition this time round.’

Sirius was the one to let out an outrageous laugh, James following in close behind.

‘I’m afraid not, I have given up the drink for good,’ David announced dramatically. ‘But I’m sure Sirius would gladly take my place.’

‘Oh no,’ Sirius surprisingly refused. ‘I learnt my lesson a long time ago, no one outdrinks a werewolf, not matter how much you can hold, it’ll always be too little.’ 

I couldn’t help but chuckle as Sirius began telling stories about the old days drinking with Remus and seriously regretting it. Remus had begun letting his soft fingertips drift a little further up my thigh and applying small amounts of pressure, I knew he could hear my breathing change, but I was sure he didn’t care in the slightest. 

We stayed a little longer, finishing our drinks and listening to everyone exchanging stories about the old days, Benji and Jocelyne had seen her parents off and my own were still entertaining people in the kitchen. According to Benji my father was looking after my mother who’d had a glass of wine too many, but laughing all the same, she’d feel it in the morning. 

Eventually the night air was a little too cool for my liking and Remus decided to call it a night. Everyone was a little unsteady, including myself, and so struggled to get inside. My father had told us to just leave the seating, he would take care of it in the morning. 

‘Angie.’ He smiled as we entered into the kitchen, my mother was swaying to the low music with Lyall and it only made Remus chuckle, kissing the top of my head and going over to his father. ‘I know I’ve said it already, but I am so proud of you.’ My father wrapped me in a warm hug. ‘Before you go, would indulge me for a while?’ I frowned up at my father for a moment. ‘I know you hate tradition, but it is tradition that a father gets to dance with his daughter on her wedding day.’

I couldn’t resist my father’s kind smile and rolled my eyes playfully. ‘Fine, but I’m no good at this.’ I chuckled and took off Remus’s jacket, hanging it on top of a black coat on a kitchen chair. My father guided me to the spot where Lyall and my mother had been dancing and proceeded to gently dance with me. 

I could hear the remaining guests either saying goodbye to Remus and my mother or stopping to watch me dance with my dad, after a while, I could feel the butterbeers catching up to me and so I felt so much more relaxed. 

‘And there we have it.’ My father said, spinning me slowly. ‘My beautiful little girl is now married and far too grown up for my liking.’ I couldn’t help my giggle. ‘Seems like only yesterday you were coming home with Darren excited to show everyone your new wand: Elder, ten inches with a phoenix feather core, a very worthy wand for my daughter… and now a very worthy husband…’ I wasn’t quite braced for my father to suddenly start crying, I certainly wasn’t prepared for him to be laughing while he did. I wrapped my arms around his waist and tried to hold him together for a while. ‘Oh Angie, you have grown into the most wonderful woman I could ever hope for. I am just so proud.’ He said again and I laughed.

‘I love you, dad.’ I said and pulled back to see him. 

‘I love you too, Angie.’ He took a deep breath and reminded me so much of Darren when he did. ‘Now, come on, Remus is waiting, you best be on your way.’ 

I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave my father so soon, but I looked over to the doorway to see Remus was in fact waiting for me, my mother hanging on his arm and watching me as well. 

‘Okay,’ I nodded. ‘I’ll see you again soon.’

‘Don’t be a stranger, Angie, you’ll always be welcome home.’ My father reminded me and we walked towards the back door.

My mother immediately started crying again and wrapped her arms around me a little too tightly for comfort. 

‘Oh, I’m sorry darling,’ she sniffed. ‘I just get so carried away.’

‘I know.’ I laughed and smiled up at my mother, she was so beautiful and I prayed I would look something like her when I got a little older. ‘I love you too, mum.’ I said and it only made her laugh and kiss me everywhere she could reach.

‘Okay, that’s it,’ she said, still kissing me. ‘I’m done, no more kisses, off you go.’ 

My cheeks hurt from laughing so much and it took my father, gently prying her away for my mother to actually stop kissing me. 

‘I love you, Angie.’ She called as Remus handed me my shoes and coat, guiding me out of the house and into the cool air.

‘I love you, too.’ I cheered back, making Remus chuckle. I turned to see he was carrying a small case. ‘What’s that?’ I frowned. 

He suddenly looked a little bashful. ‘This is my surprise…’ he said, rather cryptically. ‘Do you trust me?’ Remus asked, sliding his hand around my waist and pulling me close, I felt a small thrill and nodded. Remus pressed a light kiss to my lips and I felt a sharp change in my surroundings as we apparated to a place much colder than my parents back garden. 

I gently pulled away and looked around to see something familiar. ‘Reykjavik.’ I breathed and began laughing with joy.


	6. Wedding Night

‘We’re in Reykjavik!’ I exclaimed and turned to see Remus laughing and heading over to the familiar Abraxan-pulled carriages. 

‘Yes, we are.’ He said, rather proudly, opening the door and holding out his hand for me to enter first. 

I sat down in the much warmer seat of the carriage and pulled my long, black coat closer to my body. 

‘So, why are we here?’ I smiled, turning to Remus who half laughed, running his hand through his hair. 

‘This was the last thing I asked Jocelyne to make sure we could do.’ He explained, placing his arm around my shoulders and pulling me a little closer. ‘I wanted to spend our honeymoon here, because it was the first place we came where I truly fell in love with you.’ I felt my heart inflate to an uncomfortable size. He had thought so much about our wedding that I felt a little guilty for not doing the same. 

I watched his eyes darken for a moment, before Remus leaned in to kiss me firmly. Somehow neither of us could quite find the will to stop and I felt myself being gently guided back, with Remus’s body floating over mine, his hands drifting inside my coat and groaning as he found the lace material of my dress. I could feel his mind turning towards the cabin, the thought of delicately undressing me, it made me stop for just a moment.

‘Are you alright?’ Remus whispered, his breathing was a little heavy.

‘I’m fine.’ I frowned, looking up at his darkened blue eyes. ‘I just… I don’t know, I suppose I’m just… still nervous.’

Remus smiled a broad smile and pushed himself back into his seat, running his slender finger through his hair. ‘I’m sorry,’ he half laughed. ‘I nearly forgot what this place does to me.’

It only occurred to me at that moment just how dangerous it could have been for Remus to bring me back, the last time he was exposed to the Northern Lights, he got caught in a sort of mid-transformation, the wolf woke up inside of him.

‘I’m taking every precaution, Angelina.’ Remus suddenly said, as if he was able to read my thoughts. ‘When we get back, I will take my Wolfsbane just like I did last time. Lily seems to think it will be fine.’ 

I took a breath and nodded, in theory, he was right, in order to put the wolf to sleep, it needed a sleeping potion, which was really all the Wolfsbane was. I still couldn’t help my slight worry though, what if he forgot, or something else happened that he hadn’t thought of. 

‘Okay,’ I said. ‘As long as you’re happy.’

‘I am.’ Remus smiled widely. ‘I’m very happy.’ He lifted my hand and looked down at my two rings. ‘I have everything I could possibly want.’ His lips pressed softly to my knuckles and I could feel his love penetrating my core once again. 

Remus lifted his head and his eyes flickered to my mouth once more before he leaned in to kiss me softly again. His hand slid into my hair and I felt my chest ache with love. 

We eventually arrived at the cabin and I was still a little unsteady from drinking at the wedding, but Remus wrapped his arm around my waist and kept me close to his warm body. He opened the familiar wooden door of the cabin we visited so many years ago and gestured for me to go first. 

It was warm inside and cosy, the exact way I remembered it. I peeled off my coat, throwing it over the back of the sofa, listening to my heels click against the wooden floor and began wandering around, checking in case anything significant had changed since the last time.

I could still see the image of Remus making breakfast in the kitchen, wandering over to the sofa with a cup of tea, putting his coat and scarf on to venture outside and his hands sliding beneath my thighs as he lifted me around his waist to kiss me. I could see all the memories so clearly and allowed myself a moment or two to get wrapped up in them.

‘Angelina.’ Remus said, quietly behind me. He stood in the middle of the living room, his hands in his pockets, looking incredibly handsome. Was this really the man I married only a few hours ago?

‘I don’t think you’ve ever looked so handsome.’ I said, teasingly as I wandered back over to him. ‘I like the suit.’ I gently ran my hand up his chest, feeling the material of his jacket, his waistcoat, his tie and his soft, white shirt. ‘I like the beard.’ I moved my hand to run my fingers through his soft, slightly scruffy hair along his jawline. ‘And I definitely like the hair… makes you look… really hot.’ I had to laugh, I’d never really thought of that as a word to use for anyone before, let alone Remus, who I’d always known to be attractive and handsome, but “hot” just wasn’t the word for him most days. 

Remus laughed and his cheeks flushed pink. ‘Well, I’m very glad I could please you with my hotness.’ I had to giggle, it was such an unnatural thing for him to say, but somehow it fit. ‘Though, I don’t think I could return the compliment and have you understand just how beautiful you are right now.’ His eyes darkened and I felt a whip of nervousness. ‘Angelina,’ Remus gave a weak smile. ‘You cannot possibly fathom just how much I love you.’ Tears began to form in my eyes with how happy he was making me, but I kept hold of them for now. ‘I know that today must have been somewhat overwhelming and I know full well that some of it you felt was a little much, but to me… it was everything I’d always wanted and far more than I feel I could ever deserve.’

‘No,’ I shook my head. ‘Remus, you deserve every good thing in the whole world, you deserve everything… and I’m going to do my best to give you all I have.’

‘Angelina.’ Remus sighed and slid his hands up into my hair, kissing me with all the intensity he could muster, I could feel his body pressing into mine, gently guiding me back towards the table close to the kitchen. He slid his hands beneath my thighs and lifted me onto it, his tongue invading my mouth and making me groan, before he suddenly stopped and took a deep breath. ‘I didn’t want to do it like this.’ He whispered.

‘Do what?’ I panted, mentally rolling my eyes.

Remus’s dark eyes penetrated my gaze once again. ‘Make love to my wife for the first time.’ He said, plain and simple. It weakened me to my core and somehow forced another small groan from my throat. I tried to clear my already blurred mind, but Remus’s delicate kisses against my mouth were making it difficult, all I could think about was his skin pressed to mine and how warm it would feel. 

‘How…’ I started, but got distracted with his tongue dancing over my lip. Remus chuckled and slowed down for a moment.

‘Well, I just didn’t think my wedding night would end on top of a table.’ He said, still laughing a little. ‘Why don’t we go upstairs? Will you let me do this properly?’ I felt myself frown, not quite understanding what “properly” meant. ‘I don’t want to rush anything tonight. I’ll only ever have one wedding night and I want to make the most of it.’ He whispered, his fingers delicately tracing over my thigh and making me feel wonderfully dizzy.

‘Okay.’ I breathed, not really caring so much about the time or place, just wanting to feel more of him. 

Remus suddenly stepped away and I felt cold and blurry. He half laughed and helped me to my feet. ‘I’ll just be a minute.’ Remus kissed me once more and I finally found enough balance to head upstairs.

I was suddenly very nervous, I wasn’t exactly sure of why, I’d been here with Remus before, but it all seemed a little out of place. I’d really only just gotten used to living in the same house as him, sharing the same bed, but now we really were together, he was my husband and I was no longer a Lockwood, I was a Lupin. 

I wandered over to the fireplace, the one we’d slept in front of once and I imagined being at home in front of our own fireplace and making love to my husband all through the night. Remus Lupin was my husband. It seemed so strange and so different to the life we had been living for all these years.

I heard the sounds of Remus ascending the stairs and turned away from the flames to see him carrying a bottle and two small glasses. He smiled bashfully and set everything down on the table close to the window that stretched across one side of the room, looking out at the glittering city. He held his hand out to magically remove his tie and slid his jacket off, placing it over the back of one of the chairs.

‘I’ve had this bottle of whiskey for nearly ten years,’ Remus said, his cheeks flaring with another pink blush. ‘I opened it on your eighteenth birthday.’ He poured the golden liquid into the two glasses and handed one to me. ‘I’m told it ages well and I haven’t touched it since the first time we drank together.’

‘You kept it all these years?’ I couldn’t hide my surprise.

‘I did.’ He nodded, unbuttoning his shirt a little so that a small amount of chest hair poked out. ‘I had a small hope that one day there would be another occasion worth pouring a glass over. This certainly is a worthy night.’ 

Remus’s face began to show a faint green glow, making us both turn around to see the Northern Lights glimmering in the sky. It was hypnotising and I couldn't resist getting closer to watch it. I felt Remus stand close behind me, providing the comfort I needed for a while.

I sipped the whiskey and felt the liquid trickle down my throat and heat up my entire being, I could feel the comfort of those warm office chairs that we used to sit in and spend hours talking about anything and everything. Had we been so in love even then? 

‘Angelina.’ Remus whispered, he was much closer than I anticipated. His hand came around to take the empty glass from my hand and I listened to the sound of him placing it on the table. His hands glided around my waist, forcing me to suck in a harsh breath, I was already so ready for him, he didn’t even know. His breath tickled my ear as his lips traced down towards my neck, the touch was so light that I couldn’t stop my stuttered breathing.

Remus wasn’t much better, I could feel his own excitement at the small and precise touches, like every moment was to be savoured. ‘Remus.’ I breathed and let my head fall back against his shoulder. Suddenly his kisses were more desperate, more wanting. 

‘It’s such a shame,’ Remus whispered. ‘I loved seeing you in this dress… so beautiful.’ 

Remus’s hands drifted up to the zip at the base of my neck and I put my hand against the glass window just to keep my balance for a moment. He carefully and slowly pulled the zip down to the very bottom of my spine where his fingertips brushed the skin lightly. I let out a heavy sigh and realised that my eyes had closed, just absorbing the feeling. 

‘My beautiful wife.’ He whispered into my ear, kissing just below it, whilst peeling my dress off my shoulders and down my body. ‘God, Angelina.’ He groaned upon seeing that all I had on beneath my clothes was a lacy white thong, something that seemed to please him to no end.

Remus’s breath had turned into panting as he spun me around and kissed me passionately against the cool window, his hands massaged my back, my thighs, my hips, anywhere he could reach while his tongue and teeth kissed me with bruising intensity. I barely felt him lifting my body around his waist, carrying me to the bed where he placed me down, only to continue his glorious attack on my mouth, my neck, my chest. 

Every movement he made, every kiss, every caress of my skin was well practised and everything Remus wanted me to feel. He listened to my moans and soft sighs and found the familiar rhythm that made me groan his name over and over.

He was the one who knew me best, knew my body, my mind, my very soul, Remus Lupin was my husband and I would never love another human being the way I loved him. 

The green light filtered into the room and all I could hear was Remus whispering how much he loved me, how beautiful I was and how grateful he was for the life he had. I felt his rhythm change as the lights began to take effect, his kisses became harsher, not unbearable, just passionate, his eyes were almost entirely black. He looked at me, grazing his eyes over every part of my face and smiled, placing a delicate kiss to my lips, before getting up and unbuttoning his waistcoat. His eyes never left mine and it gave me a small thrill to see him already panting.

I stood up on the bed and came to be eye level with him, I could feel his breath against my mouth, changing ever so slightly when my hands came down to take over from his. I slowly undressed him, noting that almost every scar had faded or disappeared almost entirely. He was healthy and strong and beautiful.

‘Angelina.’ Remus whispered, just as I’d thrown his trousers away, leaving him, like myself, in just his underwear. His hands slid up into my hair as his lips crashed down once again onto mine. 

Remus lay me down onto the bed and his whole body pressed into mine, I could feel every part of him and had a momentary flashback to the first time I had hugged him in his office, again being able to feel all of him. I was scared back then, but now I was exhilarated. His arms were lean and I could feel the muscles working, tensing and relaxing while he moved.

I felt his trimmed beard scraping over my sensitive skin, he knew I loved it and took every advantage he could, whenever he could. Remus descended lower and lower, hooking his thumbs into my thong and sliding it down and off, my hands raked through his soft hair, almost feeling bad for messing it up. He knelt between my legs and grinned wickedly down at me.

I laughed as his long slender fingers drifted down the inside of my thighs, dancing over the skin, he was so precise, massaging and caressing the flesh. Remus examined and traced every one of my scars, some were just from small incidents, one was the lionfish bite and others I had no idea I even had. But he did. Remus knew me.

He leaned down and kissed me softly, leaning on his forearm beside my head. His other hand remained on the inside of my thigh, moving between us and I knew exactly what he was about to do. I felt my back arch the second he touched me, circling me gently at first, before it became a little more desperate, it was like a bolt of excitement circled my whole being and leaving in a deep sigh. Remus kissed my jaw. ‘I want you to come for me.’ He whispered and before I knew what was happening, I felt him slowly sliding himself inside me. ‘Angelina.’ He groaned and held me tighter to his body.

We both took a moment to breathe, watching each other intensely, but it was long enough before Remus began to move. He was slow at first, resisting temptation to go faster, but the slow rhythm was doing it’s job and I was so close.

‘Remus.’ I whispered, needing to kiss him, to feel more of him, before suddenly I went blind, my fingers pressed hard into his defined back and his own deep groan was enough to let me know he got what he wanted. Remus slowed right down for just a moment, watching me open my eyes and look up at him half laughing.

‘Turn over.’ He gently commanded, placing a chaste kiss against me, before getting up, helping me do as he asked. I felt his hand slide over my hips as his kissed up my back towards my neck, once again sliding into me and groaning deeply next to my ear. I felt my arms go weak trying to hold myself up, but Remus wouldn’t let me go.

He moved faster into me, increasing in pace and making me feel incredible. His fingers slid around my waist and down the inside of my hip and he began encouraging me to come again. 

‘Come for me, Angelina.’ He ordered again and I couldn’t resist any longer.

‘Remus, please.’ I whimpered, part of me letting him know it was too much but not enough at the same time. Remus half laughed next to my ear as I came around him, barely holding onto myself anymore. 

He didn’t let me rest, kissing my cheek and lifting himself up to hold my hips in place. I could hardly tell him I was ready before Remus started moving inside me, pulling my hips towards him as he drove himself into me. Remus kept up his pace, driving into me over and over again, but slowing as soon as he felt himself losing control.

‘I want to see you.’ Remus panted and again without much warning, he turned me back over, attacking my lips and making me groan into him. ‘Angelina, I love you so much.’ He said, but I couldn’t respond without him moving back into me at a vigorous pace and intensity. ‘My darling wife.’ Remus slid his hand into mine, interlacing his fingers so he could feel my rings and placing a bruising kiss to me as he came hard.

It took a moment for either of us to move or find the energy to do anything, but when I could feel my body finally, I was shaking. Remus lifted his head from where he had nestled in the crook of my neck and smiled. His still dark eyes drifted over my whole face and he softly kissed my mouth.

Remus gently removed his hand from mine and lifted himself with shaking arms up off my body so that he could settle down next to me. His warm arms wrapped around my cooling skin and the second he pulled up the warm sheets, I could feel myself starting to drift.

‘Goodnight Angelina.’ Remus whispered, I tried to say something back as I nuzzled into his chest, but I was almost certain that no noise left my lips.


	7. Bliss

I woke feeling something warm circulating my body, something buzzing and vibrating, when I turned it was to find Remus awake and staring at the ceiling.

‘Remus?’ I croaked, my head starting to pound from drinking too much the day before.

Remus turned to face me, his eyes were a little harsh, dark and filled with joy. His mouth began to pull up into a smile as he delicately moved a stray piece of hair away from my face. ‘Angelina.’ He whispered, before placing a soft kiss to my lips. We stayed like that for a while, Remus just placing small, soft kisses against me, running his hands lightly over my skin, never pressing for more than simple intimacy. 

I loved the mornings where neither Remus nor myself had anything to do urgently, we could take our time getting up, we could make breakfast and eat together on the dock looking out over the lake in front of our home and just enjoy the peace and quiet for a while. No pressures to do anything we didn’t want to do, no responsibilities to anyone or anything but each other. But this felt so different, this felt like we had a responsibility to be with each other, one I had no issues with at all.

Remus smiled against me and half laughed, making me frown slightly. ‘I got married yesterday.’ He chuckled and kissed my cheek. I couldn’t help but join in, laughing with him for a while and nestling closer to his chest, watching the city come to life below us. ‘My darling wife.’ He repeated.

‘That’s me.’ I giggled and placed my hand of his chest, I could feel his heart thumping against his ribcage and it felt as though it was beating faster than usual. ‘So, just so I’m fully prepared, do you have any plans beyond this room today?’

Remus laughed heartily. ‘Admittedly, I only have a couple of things I’d like to do here, but we still have time, so I am more than happy to indulge in anything you may have planned.’

Without any more words being exchanged, I gave into desire and kissed Remus with as much passion as he had shown me the night previous, I ran my hands over his lean body and for the rest of the day all I could focus on was the feel of my husband. We only left the bedroom to make something to eat, or to shower, but even those activities seemed to bring something out in the both of us that we hadn’t anticipated, not that any of it was unwelcome in the slightest.

Remus had been kind and attentive in every sense, he listened to me telling stories about the wedding, the little things I remembered, he watched me replay moments in my head and then teased me into telling him what I was thinking. He read to me as the sun began going down and the night would come in, every time we made love, I could feel a deeper connection being formed, like something was pulling us together into one single being and it was gloriously addictive. Remus was gloriously addictive.

‘I’m glad you think so.’ He chuckled, still panting slightly beneath me. My legs were so shaky from straddling him and Remus carefully helped me to lie down next to him. ‘I have to say, the last time I felt this tired was before I started taking Wolfsbane.’ I couldn’t help but burst into a fit of giggles, Remus following me soon afterwards until we were both exhausted of everything. ‘I think we should go into the city tomorrow.’ He said, though his voice was incredibly hoarse as he rolled towards me, throwing his arm over my cooling skin and nestling into the crook of my neck, softly kissing the skin and letting his beard scratch over the already sensitive area. 

I didn’t quite remember if I responded, but I was sure he got the picture anyway.

Remus was excited about walking around with Angelina, though she was never really keen on the cold, at that time of year, it wasn’t so bad and they could both wander around in just their long coats. She was incredibly beautiful, a warm glow surrounding her very being as she laughed about one thing or another, Angelina was everything he could ever have hoped for and the thought alone made him happy.

They wandered around the small cafes, stopping for lunch and talking about the city, the lights, the wedding, the cottage, the future and everything in between. They avoided the war and everything bad that might happen, instead focussing on the positive and it seemed to keep Angelina in a much more stable frame of mind. 

The most important thing to Remus was that Angelina was happy and healthy, nothing else mattered to him quite like that, it felt like a coincidence that he was the one who could provide her with both of those things.

They spent the days walking around the city and the forest, finding and exploring different paths leading to all sorts of strange clearings, they saw the unicorns again and as Angelina had suspected the last time, they could walk straight up to them and stroke them. At night, they would sit around the cabin, eating, drinking and loving each other, it was the life Remus had always wanted and Angelina was more than willing to live it with him.

Jocelyne called in Sirius’s help to look after the house while Angie and Remus were away, she struggled to figure out how one woman had the time to look after such a large garden, two owls and still have time to run a shop and do research. 

‘I mean, she’s honestly some kind of superhuman, isn’t she?’ Jocelyne complained while Sirius just laughed and let Rilee out of the owlery to fly around for a while.

‘It is impressive,’ he agreed. ‘And that’s before you step foot inside the forest.’

‘What’s in the forest?’ Jocelyne half laughed, wondering what on earth Angie could be keeping in there on top of her garden, but Sirius suddenly had a guilty look on his face. ‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ He shook his head, pulling his wand out and beginning to watering his side of the garden as per the instructions Remus had left.

‘Doesn’t seem like nothing,’ Jocelyne pushed. ‘What’s Angie got hidden in the forest?’

Sirius considered her for a moment. ‘It’s not Angie, it’s Remus… he’s got a shed… he transforms in there.’

‘In the forest?!’ She exclaimed. ‘I thought he went away to do that.’

‘Angie wouldn’t allow it,’ Sirius sighed. ‘This was the compromise.’

‘So, you’re telling me my best friend has just married a man who is not only a werewolf, but a werewolf who transforms inside a shed putting her at risk?’ Jocelyne wasn’t sure where the anger was coming from and neither did Sirius.

‘Come on, you know it’s not like that. The shed is sturdy enough contain him, it’s far enough away that she can easily make it to the apparation site should anything go wrong and he takes his wolfsbane before he leaves the cottage every time.’ Sirius reasoned. ‘Angie didn’t like the idea of him apparating away once a month where anything could have happened, she also didn’t like the idea of him locking himself up. This was the compromise.’

Jocelyne didn’t speak for a while, she just kept thinking on what happened the last time something went wrong with his condition, her best friend nearly died. They continued to work for the rest of the morning, carefully noting what they would need to do the day after and trying to figure out whose turn it would be to come and tend to the house. 

Every so often she would look at the silver fir trees, almost trying to figure out where the shed was, if it was strong enough and how Remus was so okay with being so close to the cottage. It just didn’t seem like him to give into Angie where his condition was concerned.

‘Do you want to see it?’ Sirius finally asked, handing her a glass of water. Jocelyne just frowned. ‘The shed, do you want to see it? It might help settle your worries.’

She thought for a moment before nodding. Sirius led the way through the thick trees and the further in they got, the darker it seemed to be, Jocelyne looked up for a moment to see that very little natural light was getting through the canopy above. They walked for just over half an hour, the walk getting a little harder the further in they went, but soon Sirius stopped them just before a small clearing, he brought his wand out and lifted a concealment charm on the area, revealing Remus’s transformation shed. 

Jocelyne just looked at the small and cramped looking structure and blinked.

Sirius just smiled and went over to the door which had a huge padlock on it and no visible keyhole. ‘No idea where he keeps the key, probably back at the house.’ He commented. ‘But this is where he comes once a month and they both seem relatively happy with the arrangement.’

‘Remus is happy with this?’ Jocelyne asked, not believing him. The wood looked worn and flimsy to say the least, but then she supposed it was supposed to look like that in case anyone stumbled across it.

‘I wouldn’t say he’s ecstatic, but it complies with Angie’s wishes so it’s the best he can do, I suppose.’ Sirius had a slightly sadder expression on. ‘I think they both worry about it from time to time, but as long as they continue to take proper precautions, I don’t see the problem with it.’

Jocelyne still wasn’t exactly convinced, as much as she loved Remus, he was still dangerous to an extent and Angie hadn’t seemed to have learnt that lesson at all.

After Jocelyne had properly inspected the structure, they went back to the house to lock up and head home. She told Benji about the shed and he had warned her to keep the information to herself, that there was no need for anyone to know about it beyond their group.

‘What do you mean?’ Jocelyne asked, she was midway through making the twins dinner when her husband came home, exhausted as usual. 

‘Look, just don’t tell anyone about it, okay?’ Benji turned, heading upstairs to get changed before stepping foot into their recently cleaned kitchen.

‘Benji, what aren’t you telling me?’ She demanded, following him up to their bedroom. Neither of them had managed to clean up the clothes that were lying all over the floor just yet, but neither seemed to care. 

‘Jocelyne, please just leave it alone.’ He said, removing his shirt and jeans, trying to find something more comfortable to wear. Jocelyne was never put off by his body, it had collected scars, some more viscous than others over the years, but he was still her handsome and brave husband. 

‘Well, I would have done, if you hadn’t have told me to leave it alone.’ Jocelyne reasoned and Benji just rolled his eyes at her. ‘Benji, is she hiding something in that shed.’ The look he gave confirmed it all. ‘What is it?’

‘I can’t tell you.’ He said, a little more firmly as he put his joggers on. ‘Look, I’m not supposed to know about it, it was Sirius who told me to keep an eye on her. I don’t know for sure what it is, but he said it was Angie’s future and it has to be protected.’

‘Her future?’

‘Yes,’ Benji grabbed his old grey t-shirt and put it on a little gingerly from an unseen injury he was carrying. ‘But like I said, I don’t know exactly what it is. The best thing we can do is keep the information in-house.’

Jocelyne eyed her husband. ‘Seems like you two are keeping a lot of information in-house.’

‘Don’t be like that.’ Benji sighed, not wanting to start an argument. ‘You know I would tell you everything I know if I could, but most of the time, I don’t even know what it is I know anymore… I’m just trying to keep you three safe.’

‘Benji, we’re a team, you and I are a team and we keep our children safe. Don’t think that you have to do anything alone, I’m right here.’ 

Benji just looked at his wife and smiled, gently. ‘Okay.’ He said and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek. ‘Okay, you’re right, we’re a team… you should know what I know.’

Jocelyne finished making dinner, they put the children to bed and talked quietly late into the morning hours. Some of it was difficult for Jocelyne to understand, Benji only had partial pieces of information and suddenly she had a new appreciation for just how difficult his job really was.

They had been in Reykjavik for a little over a week, with only a few days left before they would need to go home for his sake. James had told him about a spring that had been built close to the cabin and taken Angelina there on a couple of evenings when it was nice out. No one was around and so he didn’t feel so ashamed of his body being exposed, Angelina loved his body and that was what counted in the end. 

They had managed to get through a bottle of Firewhiskey with Angelina feeling the effects worse than him, not that that was really a problem as far as he was concerned, but it did make her uncharacteristically brave. 

‘Come on, Remus!’ She laughed and stripped off her clothes, throwing them haphazardly to the side of the spring, before submerging her naked body beneath the water and relaxing into it. 

He just laughed, watching her feel her youth for a while, it wasn’t something she would feel very often and with the future looking darker, there was less and less chance that she would be allowed these moments to be so carefree. Remus tried his best not to think of such things and instead began shedding his own clothes to join her. 

The water was incredibly relaxing and the surrounding trees made him feel as though they would never be disturbed, that they could quite easily forget everything about the outside world and remain in the spring forever. It was tempting to say the least, perhaps it was best they never went back home, Angelina would be safe, she would never have to fight any wars, she could live out her days in Reykjavik with a new garden, a new home, with her new husband by her side, encouraging her in every way she needed and she could live the long, happy life she deserved. 

Remus watched her floating on her back, looking up at the green lights surrounded by the black sheet of sky, glittering with stars and he honestly felt like crying he was so unimaginably happy for her. He sat back on one of the rocks that had been carved into a perch at the side of the spring and just watched as she floated around for a while, without a care for anything. 

Eventually she brought herself upright and turned towards him, a cheerful grin on her face. 

‘I think I might have an idea.’ She said, biting gently on her bottom lip. Remus felt his heart accelerate a little. Angelina slowly wandered over to him and with very little indication for what she was about to do, she lifted herself to straddle him, resting her forearms on his shoulders and playing with his slightly damp hair. 

‘What’s your idea?’ He asked, playfully. Remus had his hands on her hips beneath the water, gently running circles over her skin with his thumbs. 

Angelina just smiled and placed a gentle kiss to his lips, before running her hands through his hair and watching him.

‘The lights,’ she smiled. ‘I think I might have an idea about the type of magic they emit.’

Remus frowned for a moment, before suddenly laughing and letting his head lean back against the side of the rocks. ‘Okay,’ he said, as she only frowned at him in response. ‘Tell me about the lights.’

‘Why are you laughing?’ Angelina was visibly confused by his response.

‘Because… forgive me for thinking the most beautiful creature in the world took her clothes off, straddled me and kissed me, if only to start a conversation about magic.’ He chuckled, letting his hands drift up her waist and watched her darkened blue eyes scan him, he almost recognised it as that confused look she would have so many years ago when trying to assess social situations. 

‘I mean, we can do something else… if you want?’ Angelina was losing her nerve and Remus could only sigh and smile at her.

‘I want you to tell me about the magic that comes from the lights,’ he brought his hand up to stroke her cheek. ‘You were so excited about it a moment ago and I want to feel that excitement with you.’ She still didn’t seem so sure. ‘Tell me about the lights… please?’ He placed a gentle kiss to her lips and tried to coax her back into feeling excited.

‘Okay, fine.’ Angelina chuckled against his mouth, slowly pulling away and gently biting her lips once again. ‘So, we know that the light emits a calming effect on creatures, right?’

‘We do.’ Remus nodded and smiled, just watching as the excitement started to creep back into view. 

‘We also know that there are no known cases of werewolf attacks,’ she continued, idly playing with his hair while she spoke. ‘But it’s not just that there are no attacks, there has never been a single recorded werewolf living in Iceland at all.’

‘Never?’

‘Nope, not a single one.’ She said. ‘But visitors from all over the world have come here, some have stayed and some have chosen to return year after year to observe the lights and claim to feel much happier about themselves as a result. However, and this is where the exciting part comes,’ Remus chuckled, waiting for her to continue. ‘I checked out some of the rejected reviews of the city and there are a lot of people citing that once they left, they felt the inclination to become more like the person they felt they could be.’ Remus was suddenly much more interested in what she had to say about the lights. ‘You remember when we got back the last time, you told me you loved me and you wanted to be a different person?’

‘I remember.’ Remus wasn’t too comfortable talking about the last time they got back from Reykjavik and the things he went through as a result. 

‘I wanted to be different as well, I thought it had something to do with the brother, but I think he had a bit more to do with my agitation when I got back.’ Angelina took a breath. ‘The lights are calming for some creatures, because for the most part, they aren’t naturally aggressive. You weren’t born a werewolf…’ she looked up for a moment. ‘I thought maybe it was soul magic, then I thought maybe healing magic, but what if it’s a combination of the two? What if the people we are while we’re here is who we are supposed to be? What if this is our happiest state?’

Remus just watched her staring up at the sky, his eyes dragged over her chin, her neck, her chest and back up again, he let his breath go. ‘Perhaps you’re right.’ He whispered, unable to quite find his voice. She looked down at him and had an apologetic look on her face.

‘Sorry, I know it wasn’t really what you were looking for, it’s just an idea.’ Angelina said, a little sheepishly. 

‘No, it was exactly what I was looking for.’ He smiled and placed a soft kiss against her mouth, feeling her smiling against him. 

Maybe Angelina had a point, maybe this was how they were supposed to be, happy, carefree and entirely wrapped in each other’s worlds. He couldn’t deny, it wasn’t the worst idea in the world, to simply stay in the spring and never worry about a single other thing in the world than Angelina’s happiness. Bliss. The dream of life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short, more coming soon!


	8. While You Were Gone

I really didn’t want to leave Reykjavik, I didn’t want to leave a place that made me feel so happy and without any responsibility. I didn’t want to leave because I was happy, Remus was happy and if we returned, we would slip into a war that I really didn’t want to fight. I wanted to keep everyone safe, of course I did, but I also wanted my family to live the best lives we could, I wanted my brother to be able to fall in love again, to have children and make his own family.

I watched Remus making breakfast for the last time in the cabin, he wore his old grey t-shirt and underwear and hummed lightly to the radio, while I watched him, wrapped in his old green cardigan and smiled to myself. We ate in silence and on occasion I would look at the way he held his fork, the way his fingers held the silver wedding band so delicately. It looked right, Remus being a married man, it just felt like the right thing for him. 

We spent the day lazing around near the fire, I lay on his chest, listened to his heartbeat and relaxed into the feeling of his fingers dragging through my hair. I didn’t want to go home. I knew that as soon as we got back to our cottage that we’d be laying down on our own sofa, with a cup of tea and talking about the same things we were talking about on our honeymoon. Maybe it wouldn’t be so different, but I would feel different.

‘I love you.’ Remus whispered into my hair. I half laughed and adjusted a little more against him.

‘You’ve said that a thousand times today.’ I smiled, I had let my eyes close and almost fallen asleep numerous times over the course of the afternoon.

‘I mean it more every time.’ I could feel his mouth curling up into a smile against my forehead. ‘We need to leave soon, the portkey will be leaving in an hour.’

I breathed in deeply. ‘I don’t want to go home.’ I sighed.

‘Nor do I.’ Remus whispered and for a moment I thought that we may never go home at all. It wouldn’t be such a bad thing, would it? We could stay in this cabin, holding each other under the lights, under the stars and forever be in love. ‘But if we’re only these people when we’re here, then I want to see if we could be these people somewhere else. I really think we could… I think we could be extraordinary.’

I couldn’t recall a time I’d heard Remus speak this way before, he never wanted to be extraordinary, he wanted to be like everyone else. I opened my eyes to look up at his, frowning slightly. They were harsh and green, a sign that Remus was starting to slip away the same way he did last time. We needed to go home, ten days was clearly all he could handle. Maybe I was wrong about the lights.

We finished packing into the small case Remus had arrived with, savouring the last few moments of peace before catching the carriages back down to the portkey. 

Apparently, something was wrong with the apparation site, a lot of wizards who had used it over the last few days had ended up in the wrong places, so emergency portkeys were set up to get people home. We were travelling to Manchester and would apparate home from there, but it was the grave look on Remus’s face that had me worried.

‘This was one of the things he did last time.’ He whispered, it was all I needed to know Remus was talking about Voldemort. There was no escaping he was back and the world would suffer for it, as wonderful as it had been to live in ignorance for a few days, the war was already well under way and we needed to step up sooner or later.

I suddenly had the urge to write to Aleksander and Kasha in Bulgaria and make sure they knew what was going on over here, to help them prepare for anything they may have needed to do. 

‘We should go to my parents before we head home, see if we can get any updates before tomorrow.’ I said, quietly as we waited in the reception area of the international wizards building, it was a little bigger than last time, still wooden and still smaller than most ministry buildings, but it was comforting in a way.

Remus gave a faint smile and nodded, he knew the honeymoon was over as well. It had been beautiful, but now we needed to focus on the coming wars. 

We managed to get back to my parents safely and for a while they were so happy to see us, until Remus started to feel unwell and the balance between the wolf and him began to unbalance. My father rummaged around in his cupboards and pulled out some Lockwood’s Wolfsbane that he kept handy for whatever reason. He took Remus into the living room to sleep, while I helped my mother make some tea.

‘So, how was it?’ She asked, her cheeks a little red from the excitement of us coming home.

‘It was good.’ I bit my lip to stop myself smiling too much, but she noticed anyway. I slumped down in one of the kitchen chairs and sighed. ‘It was really good.’ I confessed and all my mother could do was laugh. 

‘Missing a party, am I?’ My father came through from the living room. ‘He’s asleep now, he’ll be fine.’ He assured me. ‘So, tell us about Reykjavik this time? Anything changed? You said you saw unicorns last time?’

My father sat down in his usual seat at the head of the table and ran a shaky hand through his almost entirely grey hair. I missed them so much, despite being in the same room as them, I missed them and my heart grew heavier with every passing day. 

‘We saw unicorns.’ I smiled as my mother came over with the tea. I proceeded to tell them about all the things we saw, including the spring and the city. 

My parents just smiled and laughed and made more tea as they listened to my stories, it only occurred to me at that moment that this may well be the most they had smiled in the ten days I had been away. 

‘Yes.’ My father nodded. ‘Yes, it is.’ My mother slid her hand over his and suddenly a wave of sadness and fear came crashing down on my chest. ‘I’ll see if Remus is ready to wake up yet.’ He said and wandered away into the living room. 

‘It’s been a difficult couple of weeks Angie.’ My mother swallowed and wrapped her cream cardigan closer to her body, it was only then that I spotted a few light strands of hair, she was greying just like my father. When did they grow old? ‘But we’re so glad that you found time to live a little peacefully. We all deserve a chance to see what that’s like.’

I knew what she meant. The ‘dream of life’ was what Remus referred to it as, but I didn’t want it to be a dream, I wanted that to be my life, after everything I had suffered so far, surely I deserved something. Though, I could constantly hear a ringing truth echoing through my mind. “You’ve suffered nothing yet.”

‘He is, fighting fit again.’ My father distracted me, coming through from the living room behind me with Remus looking a little more tired than he should have done, but his eyes were back to the blue I remembered them as. 

‘Thank you, George.’ He said, his voice unusually hoarse. Remus slowly sat down in the seat next to me and I could my face had formed a frown.

‘You okay?’ I gave him a half smile, which he returned in kind.

‘Better.’ He nodded and sipped the hot tea my mother had put in front of him. 

‘Right, let’s get some chocolate into the both of you.’ My mother announced and placed a plate of brownies on the table in front of us, she must have made them with my father’s stash of chocolate because I really did feel better and more relaxed the second I took a bite. ‘And let’s get you up to date on what’s been going on.’

My parents told us all about Harry’s troubles with Umbridge at the school, reminding me that I still needed to see Trelawney at some point, neither myself nor Remus was surprised that she was being unreasonable, but we just hoped Harry wouldn’t antagonise her too much. Very little progress had been made towards recruitment and even less with intelligence, but people had already begun to disappear and that was not a good sign.

My father told me that Darren and been more than pulling his weight where his celebrity status was concerned and a few articles had cropped up in various publications detailing the fact that Voldemort had in fact returned.

‘He needs to be careful though,’ my father said, sighing. ‘If he carries on preaching, no one will listen and we may need his voice later on down the line.’

‘Kingsley says the minister is catching onto him as well,’ my mother agreed. ‘Darren won’t be able to keep this up and he’ll cause more damage than good.’ I was certain my mother no longer cared a great deal about her position in the ministry, but it was useful to the Order for her to remain where she was and that was all she was focussed on. 

‘What about Sirius?’ Remus asked, he was still a little dazed, but looking much better than he had done. ‘And James?’

‘They’re fine,’ my father nodded. ‘Both of them are keeping quiet, I think James is trying to keep Darren on track as well, I think Sirius was last spotted somewhere in Italy so Fudge is having a few Aurors chase that lead, but otherwise, they’re safe and sound, well… as safe as any of us are.’

‘What about Benji?’ I suddenly asked.

‘He’s tracking the packs,’ my mother was getting tired. ‘But he had an altercation with Malfoy and we think he’s going to be sent to Italy with Dawlish to chase the Black case as a result.’

I nodded and whilst Remus and my parents began talking a little more about the progress being made towards patrolling the Department of Mysteries, I was formulating a plan to get myself to Italy with Benji.

Eventually it was time for us to leave, the sun was just about to fully set and Remus and I still needed to walk back to the house. We said goodnight to my parents and I feared that it could have been the last time I saw them, there was no logical reason for the fear, but I figured war left so little room for reason or logic when you were right in the middle of it. 

Remus held my hand all the way back to the house and I was glad to see someone had been tending to my garden while we were aware. I loved my friends. Remus cleared his throat and I just looked up at him, frowning. 

‘One other traditional thing I’d like you to indulge in, for me.’ He said, getting his keys out and unlocking the front door. I couldn’t help my smile and rolled my eyes.

‘What is it?’ 

‘This.’ Remus opened the front door and without any warning he slid his arms beneath me and lifted me up. I just laughed and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his cheek and we stepped into the house. He turned his head to kiss me properly before putting me down. ‘There we go, no more tradition.’ He chuckled and put me down, retrieving the case and closing the door. I just laughed again, hanging my long black coat up and heading through to check everything was okay within the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again another short one, but I promise more is coming and they will be a bit longer!


	9. Benji's Detour

Benji just wasn’t sure, it didn’t feel like Angie had actually thought this through and he had enough on his plate to be getting on with. He was being sent to Italy at the end of November to chase up on the Black lead, which he actively knew would go nowhere and she was talking about taking a detour to the Alban Hills. 

‘Look, if you can give me a detailed plan, I’ll consider it.’ He said as they wandered around near the dock at the front of her house, the only safe place to discuss anything seemed to be a Lockwood house or Grimmauld Place. After telling Jocelyne everything he knew about the goings on of the Order, the ministry and Angie, he was worried his home may have been watched after that. ‘But I can’t just turn up and say to Dawlish, “oh by the way, we’re going to a random spot on the other side of Italy for a bit of sight-seeing”. He won’t buy it and he’ll report back to Kingsley, who will report back to Dumbledore and so on.’

‘Benji, I’m just asking you to take me with you,’ she implored. ‘I won’t need long, just overnight will be enough to get what I’m looking for and then I’ll be heading to Bulgaria to see the Park again. Why can’t you just use that as an excuse? Say the back up would be useful and I’m heading that way anyway?’

‘Because someone will suspect something and I’m already treading on thin ice Dawlish. Why can’t you just go without anyone knowing? Why do you need me to get you into the country?’

‘Because I might need you.’ Angie snapped, she took a breath and looked out at the almost frozen lake. ‘I don’t actually know if I can step foot in that place again without alerting the She-wolf to her son’s presence, she’s trying to get back to him and I can’t start something I don’t know I can finish.’

Benji just watched her for a moment. ‘You need me to go into the village.’ He realised, his anger was already bubbling, he knew most of it was stress, but some of it was directly related to Angie.

‘I would have asked David, he’s muggle-born so he’s technically got less magical blood which shouldn’t aggravate her too much, but with Umbridge at the school and generally getting in my way, I can’t ask him to leave for any reason.’

‘She’s already started checking up on all the teachers.’ Benji nodded, suddenly seeing that Angie had in fact thought this through.

‘Look, I didn’t want to ask you, but I can’t ask Remus for obvious reasons, Sirius is on house arrest, there’s no way I’d ever ask Jocelyne, she’s the only one of us whose position is relatively safe and David is stuck at the school.’ She explained and Benji just sighed, rubbing his worn face and looking at the snow-capped mountains. 

‘Fine.’ He eventually said. ‘What is it you need me to do?’

As far as Benji could understand it, Angie was looking for a set of coins, she had delved into Felix’s memories and found out that they worked like portkeys, but they were linked to specific people or places. She figured she could use them to stay in contact with everyone and if any of them were in trouble or needed help, the coins would be able to alert them to it and take them straight to the point of conflict. 

‘… I also need you to look at the statue of the She-wolf,’ Angie suddenly had a much graver look to her expression. ‘Last time I was there, I felt like I was being watched and the symbols on the statue seemed to be some kind of heavy duty containment charm, at least that’s what Remus was able to find out. If that’s really the case, then-‘

‘Then there’s a great big bloody wolf inside that statue!’ Benji was exasperated and sat down on one of the seats close to the dock. ‘You’re asking a lot.’

‘I’m going to ask a lot more of you if we don’t put a stop to this soon.’ Angie turned to face him. ‘From what I can gather from Felix’s memories, there is a way for the statue to break open of it’s own accord, but I haven’t figured that out yet. Wizards fly over that spot all the time, if she was going to be affected by a single one wandering around, it would have broken already.’

Benji thought on what she was saying, he would need a lot more detail than that and would not spend a second longer than he had to in that place, but he would do it for his friend and for his family. He would go to the Alban Hills for them. 

Remus was upset as I imagined he would be, he didn’t speak for a while and simply sat staring a hole into his tea as the rain began to pick up outside.

‘Angelina, you’re asking too of him,’ his voice was quiet and low. ‘You’re asking him to go to a place you yourself fear and retrieve something that you have no understanding of. What if he gets hurt? What if you’re right and there is a wolf inside that statue, and it wakes up while Benji is there in the dead of night? What if your friend is in trouble and you cannot help?’

‘I’ll know if he’s in real trouble and I will go and help him.’

‘At greater risk to yourself!’ Remus snapped before quickly regaining his composure. He took a breath and watched me for a moment. ‘Angelina, I understand that you are in a position that you find difficult and extreme by nature, but I implore you to really think about what it is you are asking of others, especially your friends.’

‘Benji can say no if he wants to, if he feels he can’t-‘

‘But he won’t!’ Remus was now more than upset, it was close to the full moon and I could understand it, but I wasn’t going to back down on this one. ‘Angelina, you will convince him to do it because he thinks it will help his family survive, but all this trip will really do is put his life in danger for the sake of something you do not fully understand. I can’t see any good coming from this.’

‘That’s why we have to do this,’ I was getting fed up now. ‘Because I don’t fully understand how to put an end to the brothers, I’m sorry to say that some of this will be trial and error, maybe these coins mean nothing, maybe I am putting Benji’s life at risk for no reason, but if he is successful, I will be able to use his memory to see the statue and find out what those symbols mean and if she will wake up any time soon… I need you to see that Remus.’

Remus sat back and observed me quietly, I could see him playing unconsciously with his wedding ring, before nodding very slightly. 

‘Fine.’ He said. ‘I can’t condone your actions, but I won’t stop you, just make sure you aren’t forcing Benji to do anything he is unsure about, if he is hesitant do not push him, promise me that.’

‘I promise.’

‘Good… Dumbledore has asked me to do a few things anyway, so please stay safe for me and give my best to Aleksander and Kasha.’ Remus stood up without saying another word and went upstairs, presumably to read somewhere he wouldn’t be disturbed. I could understand that.

I remained in the kitchen for a while and thought about how happy we had been only a few weeks before. The wedding was beautiful, the honeymoon was bliss and now this was the life we were living as husband and wife. Surely, things would get better at some point, wouldn’t they?

Benji remained as patient as he could be and chose an opportune time to suggest taking her with them to Italy, Fudge was immediately suspicious at first, but he soon came around on the understanding that Black hadn’t been sighted anywhere else and if he was still there, the back up would be appreciated. Fudge eventually agreed and Benji allowed Angie to show him a direct path to where the coins were hidden. He would have to dig them out of the ground, without magic aiding him, but she was sure it couldn’t have been buried that deep. No one was looking for them after all.

‘You’d better be right about this.’ He warned, quietly as Dawlish got ready to leave the office. ‘And you better have told Remus where you’re really going.’

‘I did.’ She nodded. ‘It didn’t go well as you can imagine, but he’s got things to do for Dumbledore so it’s not like he can stop me.’

‘No, it doesn’t seem like many people can stop you doing anything.’ It was a small snap on his part, but luckily Angie didn’t say anything, she just sighed and they waited for Dawlish in silence.

Dawlish wasn’t happy with the arrangement that Angie was going with them, but she had assured him she would stay out of his way and it would only be for two or three days max. They arrived and began working immediately, going to find witnesses and do a sweep of a few places Black had apparently been seen, but as Benji knew would happen, they found nothing. Part of him just wanted to scream that Black was hiding at Grimmauld Place in London and part of him just didn’t want to talk at all.

Angie was surprisingly helpful in suggesting a few other spells they could try, knowing full well that they would find nothing, but she wanted to at least appear as though she was helping, possibly so that she could go on other trips abroad under the façade of helping the ministry, she was clever and Benji respected that. 

By the time the night came in, Benji had offered to patrol. It was a good cover to get Dawlish to sleep while Angie apparated them both to the base of the Alban Hills. She was worried and Benji could see it so clearly on her face. She looked up at where the village was located while Benji got her broom ready, they didn’t risk taking his in case Dawlish checked on Benji’s room for whatever reason, it was just safer this way. 

‘Right, can I use lumos?’ He quickly asked, suddenly realising that the cover of the night would not allow for his sight to actually find the coins. He was getting nervous as well.

‘Should be fine.’ Angie nodded. ‘Like I said, witches and wizards fly over here all the time, so a little bit of magic shouldn’t do anything extreme, but you will need to get a clear look at the statue so that I can see it when you get back.’ They had already agreed for Angie to use a pensieve to look at the memory of Benji in the village, it would prevent so many things from getting out in the open and with the risks they were already taking, it wasn’t worth it.

‘Okay.’ Benji swallowed and took a deep breath. 

‘Don’t forget you won’t be able to apparate when you’re up there, so if you do get into trouble, use my broom and fly straight back to the town and I’ll meet you there.’ Angie placed her hand on his shoulder and managed to take away most of his fears, he almost loved that she had the power to do that.

‘I will.’ Benji nodded and gave his friend a half smile, before mounting the broom and beginning the ascent towards the village. He was on his own now.

Benji had been gone for almost two hours and I was getting more and more nervous. It shouldn’t have taken anymore than an hour to retrieve the coins, I’d shown him exactly where they were buried from Felix’s memory, the exact way to go and where the She-wolf sat in the centre of the village. So, where was he? I couldn’t risk entering his mind to find out and alerting the wolf to what he was really doing, he was on his own.

I waited another hour at the base of the hills, before I finally saw a broom flying towards me. Benji was covered in mud and sweat, he was panting harder than I’d ever seen him before.

‘What happened?’ I said, taking the broom from him and helping him sit down in the long grass.

‘I’m never going there again.’ He said, it was only then I saw he had been crying. ‘Angie, please, please don’t make me go back there.’

‘Alright, alright, it’s okay.’ I wrapped my arms around him, but before he could take any comfort, he drew his wand and extracted the memory. I had almost forgotten and quickly took the vile out of my pocket to collect it. ‘Thank you, Benji.’ I hoped he could feel that I meant it. ‘Come on, let’s get back to the safehouse and get you cleaned up before Dawlish finds out where we went.’ 

I gave Benji all the time in the world to get up, but instead he took a small wooden box out from his coat and handed it to me. 

‘They were buried a lot deeper than you thought.’ He said, sadly. ‘Regardless of what you thought Felix might have done, he was definitely a Lockwood.’ Benji half laughed. ‘Always hiding things with unnecessarily high safety measures.’

I couldn’t help but smile and opened the box. It was full to the brim with the wooden coins I had seen in the memories. He did it.

‘Remind me to never underestimate you.’ I smiled and tucked the box away for safekeeping. 

Benji showered and got cleaned up in my room at the safehouse, I’d put a silencing charm up just for good measure. We lay down on my bed and waited for the morning to come in so that Benji could get back to his room safely. I kept a vague eye on what was going on outside so that Benji wouldn’t have to actually patrol anywhere, he could actually rest.

‘You’re tired.’ I said into the darkness, it was too risky to put any lights on. 

‘Yeah.’ Benji sighed. ‘Everything about me is tired… I told Jocelyne everything by the way.’

‘I had a feeling you would.’

‘You’re not angry about it?’

I half laughed. ‘She’s your wife and my best friend, either she was going to figure it out on her own or one of us would have to tell her. I’m just glad it was you.’

It was the first small sign of joy I’d seen from Benji in a long time, in the form of a small chuckle. Jocelyne was some woman and Benji knew that.

‘We’re a team, she and I…’ Benji said, I could hear him swallowing back any emotion he was feeling about it. ‘She has to remind me sometimes, but we’re a team and our priority is Jackson and Harper, we have to protect them at all costs and above everything else.’

‘It’s the way it should be.’ I knew what Benji was saying, if I asked him to do anything that would take him away from his duty as a father, then he would refuse. 

‘We were children once, do you remember when we were innocent…?’ I could feel Benji turning towards me slightly.

‘I don’t think I know what innocent is anymore.’ I confessed. ‘Seems like a far off dream that never really happened.’

Benji turned back to look up at the black ceiling, we didn’t say another word until the dawn broke. I knew Benji had fallen asleep, I didn’t bother waking him, knowing he needed to rest whenever he could. 

I stayed awake and tried to think about the coins and why I was so desperate to get my hands on them. I’d seen them in the brother’s memories and couldn’t quite understand why he felt the need to take them, given that they didn’t look important to what he was retrieving, but something made me pick up on them. 

Felix’s memories had very little information in the way of the coins, it was really only the location of where they had been buried and the fact that Felix was keen for them to stay hidden from the people around him. I suddenly had a very bad feeling about what was sitting in my coat pocket.

Dawlish hadn’t suspected anything and we continued to search for Black around the area, Benji and I knowing full well that Sirius had never actually been to Italy in the first place, and soon I was catching a Portkey to Bulgaria. I said my goodbyes to Benji and thanked him once again for his help. I made a mental promise not to ask him to go back to the village, whatever happened had scared him beyond what I thought him capable of feeling and I wasn’t about to put my friend’s life at risk like that again.


	10. Bulgaria

Bulgaria was the humid place I’d remembered, the rain was lashing down and I was starting to feel sticky. I rode my broom from the Bulgarian border straight to the Thestral Sanctuary where Aleksander was waiting for me. 

He looked bigger than when I’d last seen him, more muscular, more scarred and a lot more tired. He smiled his cheery and infectious smile, that was now surrounded by a very full beard, and I couldn’t help but laugh and wrap my arms around his six foot build.

‘Aleksander, you’ve gotten bigger.’ I just about remembered my Bulgarian, but it was rough at best. 

‘And you are just as beautiful as the day you left us.’ He laughed and gently took my broom, bringing me further into the now much more built up Sanctuary. 

‘You’ve made some improvements.’ I said, looked around at some of the cabins that weren’t there last time, there was also a new herding paddock and a couple of other buildings I didn’t quite recognise on sight. 

‘Kasha and the pack have expanded the Sanctuary borders so that we can look after more than just Thestrals,’ he explained as we approached a very familiar looking cabin. Aleksander held the door for me and I swallowed hard when stepping into the place I’d stayed in for several months during my last trip. ‘You’d be very impressed by the work she has done.’

Aleksander threw me a towel and gestured to the empty rack hanging near the fire for my soaking wet coat, he began making some tea whilst drying his own thick black hair. There was something a little heavier about him, like he’d had a rough few years and it only occurred to me at that moment that I hadn’t written or returned nearly enough times.

‘I should have come back sooner,’ I sighed. ‘See how everyone was getting on.’

Aleksander let out a hearty laugh. ‘There was no need, Angie.’ He shook his head. ‘We’ve been doing fine without you and honestly, it’s no surprise you haven’t been able to come back with what I’ve heard of your adventures.’ There was a cheeky twinkle in his soft blue eyes. ‘The yetis in Tibet haven’t come down from the mountain again, Japan is in a natural state of peace as far as the people are concerned and it seems Remus has finally done the decent thing.’

I couldn’t help my smile at the mention of Remus. ‘It certainly has been a long few years.’ I nodded and sat down at the wooden table I used to plan my adventures from, adjusting my two watches that sat next to each other on my arm. I didn't anticipate needing my moon watch, but you could never be too careful and it was a good reminder of my promise to Remus to stay safe. ‘What about Kasha? You and her?’

Another hearty laugh. ‘No, I’m afraid not. We decided it was best we stick to a more professional relationship whilst we rebuild.’

‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’

‘Don’t be.’ Aleksander said, sliding over a mug of tea and finally sitting down with me. ‘It’s what’s best for everyone.’ I watched his tired eyes scan me briefly. ‘You should let Remus know you’ve arrived safely, he’ll be worried.’

‘It’s fine, he knows where I am, he knows I’m safe.’ I told him and for a moment Aleksander just watched me, before letting his face set into another infectious smile. 

‘You’ve changed Angie Lockwood,’ he said, almost shaking his head. ‘You are not the same person you were when we were last together… I wonder if it is for the better.’

‘What do you mean?’ I frowned.

‘You’re not the only one who has seen things they’d rather not.’ Aleksander sat uncomfortably. ‘I’ve seen men and women with that same look, the one that says they will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve. I’ve seen good people die because of that look in the eyes of others… I promised to help you and we all owe you a debt for what you did here, but I ask you for one thing and one thing only.’ Aleksander leaned forward and stared me straight in the eyes. ‘Do not ask for more than you yourself are willing to give.’

‘Aleksander, I wouldn’t-‘

‘We can all feel a war is coming, Angie.’ Aleksander interrupted and it was suddenly clear just how exhausted he really was. ‘But you are not a war general and we are not your soldiers.’

‘I never said you were.’ 

‘No? So why do I feel like you’re about to ask me to fight?’

‘You can say no.’ 

Aleksander stood up and rounded the table to the other side of the room. What had happened here?

‘I don’t want to fight anymore.’ I could hear the shake in his voice and slowing stood up from my seat. For a while, the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire and Aleksander’s steady breathing. 

I didn’t know what to say, but eventually I didn’t need to say anything. Aleksander went to bed without saying another word. I stayed up a little longer, I wrote to Remus to let him know I’d arrived safely and told him about Italy and Aleksander, I didn’t realistically expect a reply. I wandered around the cabin for a few moments, looking at various things to try and figure out what had happened to Aleksander, he was never so low the last time I was there.

There was a few letters scattered over tables and the sentences I could pick out seemed as if there had been a new rift created between the Sanctuary and the Bulgarian minister. The word Valentine continued to pop up and I realised that it must have been a person, but I couldn’t figure out what he had to do with the park or the ministry. 

The map of the park looked different to last time as well, the borders had been stretched and it looked as though various sites had been established between the Sanctuary and the old Ranger's site that Kasha occupied. They had been rebuilding from the ground up and it looked to be a successful endeavour for the most part, though some areas looked different to others and I couldn’t find a key to work out what each of them were. 

I debated using my skill to look directly into Aleksander’s mind, before immediately feel a wave of guilt wash over me. That power was not mine to use so radically and certainly not without his permission. Why did I need to remind myself of that fact so often?

Angelina,

I can’t offer any words of encouragement that you would find useful. I’m glad you are okay and that Benji was not injured or hurt in finding the coins for you, but please remember my words before you left, it sounds as though Aleksander is in pain and is getting tired, so please think about what it is you are asking of him, he is your friend.

The mission was relatively successful, but we will still need to send regular patrols into the Department, it’s too risky not to. I’ll be on the night patrol routinely over the next few weeks, it’s about the only useful thing I feel I’ve been able to do. Everyone is safe and no news of any new disappearances which can only be a good thing.

Any idea of when you’ll be coming home?

Stay safe for me. The world is becoming a dangerous place.

Yours

Remus

I closed my book and looked down at my moon watch the next morning. The full moon would be up in a few days and I still didn’t know what the protocol was for the Sanctuary. Aleksander hadn’t yet emerged from his room and I was starting to worry that our conversation from the night before was harder than he was letting on. 

I wandered outside to see the wet Sanctuary being tidied up by some familiar faces. Elena was the feisty trainer who took nothing from the Thestrals she trained and was about as tired as Aleksander.

‘It hasn’t been easy,’ she said, dispensing with a pile of wood that had come from a damaged roof, I did my best to help her repair it. ‘The minister has been putting more and more pressure on us to reduce the freedom of the pack, but Aleksander will not back down.’

‘Why does he want to reduce the freedom?’ I frowned and watched Elena tie her jet black hair up into a loose bun. ‘Surely there hasn’t been any accidents severe enough?’

‘There hasn’t been a single werewolf attack since you left us.’ Elena stated. ‘Werewolves have come from all over the world to find a peaceful existence here, they take Wolfsbane, they help to train the creatures and find a place they feel they belong. We cannot take that from them and minister is trying to do just that. The question of why now still remains.’

I thought for a while and continued to help repair the damage to the fallen roof.

‘Who is Valentine?’ I asked and Elena just frowned and shook her head.

‘I don’t know. I’ve never heard that name.’ She said.

I looked back towards the cabin where Aleksander was probably still sleeping and wondered a little more about the letters and who this Valentine was.

‘Has anything unusual been happening? Anything that has put you on edge?’ The roof was just about fixed and Elena was finishing up the exterior.

‘Just the night attacks.’ She shook her head again. 

‘Night attacks?’

‘There is a group who regularly come to disrupt Sanctuary, they don’t take anything for the most part, nothing important anyway,’ Elena hopped down from the ladder. ‘They just tend to cause trouble in minor ways. When they’re feeling especially bold, they set fire to the fencing around the paddocks and scare the creatures into scattering around the park, knowing it’ll take us days to bring them all back safely.’

‘How often do they attack?’ 

‘It’s actually been a while since the last time, maybe three or four weeks.’ She sighed.

I turned back to the cabin to see Aleksander emerging, still looking tired, but somewhat apologetic. I wandered over to him.

‘I’m sorry about last night, Angie.’ He said, closing the door behind him. ‘It’s just been hard over the last few weeks.’

‘Who’s Valentine?’ I asked, getting straight to the point. 

Aleksander’s eyes widened and a fury I’d never seen before flashed behind them. I could see him debating whether to answer or not, before nodding his head in the direction of the open field behind the cabin, the same one that led to the hill I’d fallen down the day Remus arrived in the park. 

We walked for a good ten minutes up the hill before Aleksander spoke again.

‘Gregori Valentine.’ He sighed and brought his wand out to dry a rock for him to sit on. ‘He’s been leading the charge on some attacks on the Sanctuary… I think he’s working directly for the minister, but I have no proof.’

‘Elena told me about the attacks, but she doesn’t know who Valentine is.’ I could feel a frustration building, I hated secrets, I hated keeping them and I hated them being kept from me.

‘I chose to keep this information between myself and Kasha,’ Aleksander reasoned. ‘She agreed that keeping it quiet is best for everyone.’

‘Aleksander, the trainers are exhausted,’ I told him. ‘This place is falling apart slowly and I can see that the fear of the next attack is starting to wear the creatures down as well. I can’t imagine what it is doing to the pack, but keeping it quiet is not going to help anyone and it won’t stop the attacks.’

‘What am I supposed to do then?’ Aleksander hissed and suddenly stood up to me. ‘Tell me what other options do I have?’ I could see his bloodshot eyes no longer flashing with anger, but full blown rage staring down at me. ‘People are dying and this is the only safe place for anyone to be, I cannot be the person who takes away their courage.’

I stared at Aleksander for just a moment before taking a breath. ‘You’re right, we’re not war generals Aleksander, but I would fight if you asked me to and I would not question it.’ Aleksander’s frown deepened. 

‘Why?’

‘Because you’re my friend.’ I told him simply. ‘You are my friend, and this is your home, this is your family, that makes it my family and my home. I haven’t changed as much as you think. I will still fight for the pack if you need me to… without question.’

Aleksander stayed silent for a moment. He just watched me, forming his words and trying to work out how to react. 

Finally, he swallowed and closed his eyes. ‘I’m so tired, Angie.’

‘I know.’ 

Aleksander wrapped his arms around me and sobbed. I did my best to hold him close to me, providing any comfort I could.

‘You are not alone,’ I whispered next to his ear. ‘I promise, no matter how it feels, you and I are never truly alone.’ 

He soon calmed down and I promised I would do what I could to help repair the Sanctuary from the storm. Aleksander needed to rest and Elena needed to be informed of what was really going on. She stayed with him for the rest of the day and they both got the rest they sorely needed.

I had a feeling I would need to stay longer than I intended. 

Remus was both disappointed to hear that Angelina would be staying in the Park longer, and proud that she had managed to calm Aleksander down, telling her friend that he wasn’t alone. But the growing feeling of fear of what she had asked of Benji and Remus’s own difficulties in staying focused on his nightly patrolling, had him wondering what decisions she was making and if it would lead to her coming home or not.

Remus was doing his best to keep Sirius occupied whilst he couldn’t leave Grimmauld Place, but he was still working at the shop, still trying to patrol on Dumbledore’s request and still trying to keep the peace as far as the Order was concerned. 

The Potters, Weasleys and Lockwoods seemed to be walking on thin ice around each other, with the Lockwoods seemingly drifting further and further into the background of the Order meetings. In fact, George and Anna rarely said anything anymore, it felt as though they were simply waiting for something to happen and it was making people nervous.

Once again, they were thrust into a situation where they were waiting for Angelina to return home for them to feel okay again. Remus did everything he could to stay focussed on the little things, the house, the garden, the lake, the forest and looking after Ruben who was progressively looking worse as the winter frost came in. Remus had taken to keeping the old owl inside on the harsher nights when Rilee was delivering letters, but he was fearing the worst.

He hated that Umbridge carried such power over Hogwarts and that Harry was miserable because of it, but he hated even more that Erin had written to him fearing for her place within Hogwarts. Remus urged her to keep her head down, focus on her studies and not to get involved with anything that would draw attention to herself. He promised that there would be a place for her after she left school, if no where else she could quite easily take his job at the shop, continue to have a supply of Wolfsbane and people who would look after her best interests, though Remus had a growing fear that Erin’s secret would be found out and she would not complete her final year at Hogwarts. 

Erin was supposed to be the example, she was supposed to be the one who made it through school so that any other young werewolf could see that it was possible to live a normal life. Remus was worried enough to talk to McGonagall at the next Order meeting about Erin’s concerns, he didn’t expect her to go bowling up to Erin, but she did promise she would do everything she could to get Erin through the next few months. Erin would finish school, she would be the example to others.

‘Right under Umbridge’s nose.’ Sirius half laughed. ‘It’ll be something special if you pull it off.’

‘If?’ Remus frowned, sipping the wine he had leftover from dinner. People were still coming in and out of Grimmauld Place, dropping off messages or heading off to complete one task or another. 

‘Come on mate, Umbridge isn’t stupid.’ Sirius leaned forward and frowned. ‘I want the kid to graduate, I want Angie to come home and save the world, I want Harry to remain safe for the rest of the year and I want Peter to pay for what he did to us, but the world doesn’t work like that and you know it. One of those things might happen, but it’s a bit much to ask for it all.’

‘You used to be so optimistic.’ 

‘I did,’ Sirius chuckled. ‘And then my best friend betrayed me, I got sent to Azkaban and a war started. Optimism would be a very naive move at this point.’ 

Remus sighed, finishing the rest of his wine. ‘Perhaps you’re right. But I will continue to maintain the faith that you are wrong.’

‘Each to his own.’ Sirius shrugged and both men chuckled. 

It was a hard few months and they’d learned from past mistakes that there was no time for dishonesty or for keeping things to yourself, of course, it ended up with conversations where the two men had been brutally honest with each other. 

‘So,’ Sirius poured a little more wine in Remus’s glass and he honestly didn’t mind, it was an empty house he would be returning to anyway, a few more hours wouldn’t do any harm. ‘Where has your wife run off to now?’

‘Bulgaria.’ Remus sighed as Sirius topped up his own glass. 

‘I thought I heard something about Italy with Benji?’ Sirius frowned.

‘Yes, they went there looking for your funnily enough.’ Remus raised his eyebrow as Sirius let out a bark-like laugh. 

‘Any luck?’ He asked.

‘Do you know, I think they were getting close before you escaped the country and fled west.’ Remus grinned, seeing the funny side. ‘Once you catch up with Bellatrix, you will let us know Voldemort’s plans, won’t you?’

‘Of course!’ Sirius cheered. ‘After all, the werewolves are rallying behind Voldemort these days anyway, what’s so wrong about sharing a little information between allies?’

Remus couldn’t help his laugh at Sirius’s dramatics. It was only when Molly and Tonks wandered in and glared at the both of them that the gravity of the situation fell upon them both. 

It was true that the werewolves were being driven out of their hiding places by Greyback and his gang of Death Eaters, they were being told that they could lead better lives under Voldemort. It was getting scary and no one looked to be getting out unscathed. The minister was continuing to ignore the signs and there was very little Dumbledore could do, he was being stretched far too thin and there was no one who could help him fight on both fronts. McGonagall could only do so much at the school, Snape was looking sketchier every day and Arthur Weasley hardly had the pull required to change the minister’s mind. 

‘I hate to say it,’ Sirius said, quietly as the two women continued their conversation on their way out of the kitchen. ‘But Angie might well be the missing piece we need to put an end to this before it starts.’

‘I can’t ask her to do that.’

‘Do you really think she needs to be asked?’

‘Angelina has her own problems to be dealing with right now.’

‘Bigger than Voldemort?!’

‘Yes.’ Remus hissed, he held his temples for a moment. ‘Yes.’

‘You mean the prophecy, don’t you? Lockwood’s prophecy.’

Remus said nothing for a moment. ‘She has gone back to a place she thinks will be useful in determining how to rid both her and Darren of the curse they share. Sirius that family has suffered for three thousand years, Angelina is the closest any of them have gotten to truly ending it… I’m afraid to say that Voldemort will not stop her from ending that suffering.’

Sirius sighed and leaned back for a moment, thinking hard on his next words. ‘You know, when I first met Angie, all I saw was a frightened young woman searching for her brother with the last of her strength… all she could talk about was you. Said she knew I was innocent, but couldn’t explain how, she could just see it. She was half dead when she told me that.’ Remus just looked at his old friend. ‘I think, before this is over, we will learn a lot more about Angie Lockwood’s limits and the lengths she will go to. I just hope there are enough of us left to see that day for what it is.’

Remus didn’t know what else to say. In a way, he wanted to throw Sirius out into the street for talking about his wife in such a way, but in another way, he knew he was right. The pressure of three thousand years was enough to drive anyone to the edges and Angelina was never one for giving up when the days looked bleakest, no matter what the odds of survival were.


	11. All Too Familiar...

Aleksander had fallen apart more than I thought, he let a lot of things slip by the wayside, things like new buildings that had been commissioned but not built, new trainers that needed to be integrated into the team and a minister who was cutting funding piece by piece without actually saying anything. 

Elena had shouted and yelled at Aleksander, she was angry and frustrated for months and it poured out in one solid evening. She eventually decided it wasn’t useful to be angry and soon got to work as far as the Park was concerned. I decided to help Aleksander with the minister and accompanied him to a meeting that had been arranged to discuss the Park’s progress, I made sure that he was well prepared and I would not let him fail. 

The building was as cold as I remembered it, marble and open spaces. I could feel something heavy about it though, as if something darker was descending, it was the same feeling I was getting from just about every building I went into back home. War was coming. 

The minister was unusually excited to see me and I was immediately suspicious. The meeting went well and almost everything Aleksander wanted to discuss, the minister offered no resistance and even agreed to send additional funding to help with the repairs. I could feel that something was out of place and the way that Aleksander was reacting told me he was not expecting the meeting to be that easy. I could feel something had changed in the air around the minister, as if his words weren’t quite his own… or perhaps they were?

‘He’s usually a lot more resistant than that,’ Aleksander said quietly. ‘I guess you must be my good luck charm.’ He smiled, satisfied that he got what he came for.

I just nodded and stayed quiet as we left the building and begun the flight back to the Sanctuary. I was glad to see nothing had happened in our absence, it was something I was worried about with how easy it had been to get what Aleksander was looking for. 

Angelina,

Trust your instinct. Something doesn’t feel right, it shouldn’t have been that easy and if the only factor was your presence, then Aleksander will need to be aware of that and be prepared for the moment you leave. He needs to push forward and ensure the Sanctuary stands in a place of strength. You were right to bring Elena into the fold, but be aware that there is only so much that can be done and laws can be changed at any time. Politics is a very delicate affair and ministries tend to house the most spiteful of people.

Please stay safe and stay strong. I need you home in one piece, do what you can, but remember that the Sanctuary has done well with Aleksander and Kasha’s leadership so far, this is just a small slip and one that can be dealt with.

The packs Benji has been tracking look to be rallying behind Voldemort, he’s convinced them that they would have a better life under his reign. I don’t know what more myself Alice and Alfred can do, but Erin’s future is now looking uncertain. I fear that we are descending into another position where we are simply waiting for you to come back home.

Yours

Remus

It was a hard letter to read, I didn’t want Remus to simply wait for me to come home, I didn’t want Erin to question her future, I wanted them to feel safe without me there so that I could focus on what I needed to do. 

I knew that Erin enjoyed Quidditch and decided to write a letter Darren to hopeful offer some words of encouragement, from what I understood, he was someone she took some inspiration from. I wouldn’t let Umbridge ruin her future, not after everything Erin had achieved on her own despite the fact she was a werewolf. 

We waited for a full week for something to happen with the minister, but instead all that happened was the funding came through and the Park was repaired in good time. Aleksander was well rested and the Park staff were made aware of Gregori Valentine and his group of thugs. They were understandably upset that Aleksander had chosen to keep the information to himself, but soon accepted it and continued to work towards rebuilding the Sanctuary from the damage the storm had done. I chose to stay quiet and allowed Aleksander to do the decision making. 

Eventually, he took me to see Kasha on the other side of the Park, we stopped off at a few of the spots I hadn’t recognised on the map and I found that they were humane enclosures for some of the werewolves to transform in safely. They reminded me of Remus’s shed and I realised how lucky I was to have married someone who understood himself so clearly. 

Kasha was doing well, some of the werewolves who had come to stay in the park were well-educated and were able to teach the younger ones a thing or two. They made a wonderfully tight-knit community and I caught a faint glimpse of hope. I felt a smile on my face for the first time in weeks, this was what I was working to build, a future where understanding and acceptance were corner stones for a whole new way of life. I wondered if I was taking on a lot more than I had really anticipated.

Kasha took me on a tour of the new Rangers site and gave me a run down of the duties they carried out, they way the previous Ranger should have done. All in all, everything looked incredibly positive, Kasha was looking fresher, in less pain and she smiled. It was all I asked for.

The three of us made our way back to the Sanctuary, Kasha having some business to discuss with Elena, but it was the smoke drifting up from the paddocks that had Aleksander stopping in his tracks. I’d never seen the look of fear on him before and I’d never seen it on anyone so extremely until that moment.

‘Valentine.’ He breathed. I turned back towards the smoke and felt my body trying to change into my animagus, but I stopped it, I couldn’t risk losing control over my body. 

We sprinted hard towards the Sanctuary and found a group of around thirty men shooting off balls of fire, panicking the thestrals and other defenceless creatures, the trainers were doing everything they could, but this was a much more vicious attack than I had anticipated. Elena was co-ordinating as best she could, fighting off wizards that were beginning to surround her and a couple of younger looking trainers.

‘Elena!’ Aleksander shouted and ran into the middle of the surrounding wizards. Kasha had disappeared somewhere in the other direction, but all I could see in front of me was the place I’d once defended, on fire. 

Suddenly I felt myself lose all control. It was like a blurred memory, one that could only be partially remembered, like a dream you think is real for a moment the second you open your eyes. My animagus had taken over and the vicious wolf inside me had torn through the oncoming waves of dark wizards, I caught glimpses of blood spatter, flashes of green and red and suddenly it all stopped.

I was breathing heavily, staring down at a man with long, greasy, black hair, who was laughing and pointing at me.

‘So, it’s true,’ he said. ‘This is the great wolf I have heard so much about. What an honour!’ He bowed dramatically, still laughing. I felt myself growl and take a cautious step towards him. I could taste copper. ‘They say you feed on the blood of yetis and manticores, only the most deadly of creature can satisfy…’ the man then stood up straight and threw his arms out. ‘How do I measure up?’ 

I took a breath and forced myself to change back into my human form, holding my wand out straight and the suddenly very disappointed man. 

‘You don’t.’ I whispered. A flash of red emerged from my wand and the man was thrown backwards. 

‘Gregori.’ One of the other shouted and bent down to see if he was injured. I fell onto my knee, feeling my energy depleting quickly.

‘Angie.’ Elena was at my side, she looked both afraid and worried. ‘Are you okay?’

‘What happened?’ I asked. She could see something was wrong. ‘I don’t remember.’ The tears were coming, but the exhaustion was setting in and Valentine was starting to get to his feet. 

‘You saved us.’ Elena breathed. ‘Let us help you now.’

It was only then that I realised how unscathed she looked, had I really done all of this single-handedly.

‘You are no wolf.’ Valentine hissed. ‘You are a fraud!’

‘She’s more wolf than you could know.’ Kasha stepped forward, she didn’t have a wand, but she looked ready for a fight all the same. 

‘Shut up you wretched mudblood!’

‘Don’t talk to her like that!’ Aleksander roared, again stepping in front of me to protect me it seemed. 

‘I was told a great wolf lived here, one who was worth more than any bounty in the world.’ Valentine had staggered to his feet, refusing any help from his gang of thugs. I could feel him about to fire something dangerous towards us. 

‘Aleksander, move.’ I yelled just as a green flash shot between Aleksander and Kasha. I felt my body once again move of it’s own accord, it wanted to change again. I wanted to become the wolf who could protect them again. I stood up and raised my pale wand. ‘Gregori Valentine, I will give you one chance to walk away, one chance to leave here and never return. But rest assured, you will only get this chance.’

The gang began laughing loudly and dramatically, about to make this last longer than necessary, but I really didn’t have the time. I shot off multiple stunners in every direction and took down a couple of Valentines key members. He was left marooned and alone.

‘The Dark Lord is looking for your kind,’ Valentine suddenly said, thought something told me he wasn’t exactly surrendering. ‘He is looking for the Lockwoods. What do you think he would do if I tell him one is hiding here? Using these half-breeds to protect her pathetic life.’

‘You won’t get that chance.’ I growled and sent off another stunner straight at his chest. Valentine flew back into one of the only fences still standing in the Sanctuary and his thugs surrendered immediately.

Everything was once again a bit of a blur, Aleksander, Elena and Kasha managed to get the Aurors there in good time and as I suspected the minister was not himself when we had met with him. Valentine had him doing all of his bidding by force, that was why the air around him felt changed.

I felt the exhaustion set in almost immediately. Valentine was arrested along with the thugs he’d brought with him, Elena was getting the sanctuary organised and Kasha and Aleksander were talking quietly with the minister. I sat on the edge of the step leading to my old cabin and began to cry. 

I was losing control, I was allowing this thing inside me to take over and do things without my consent, I couldn’t let anyone get hurt because of it, I couldn’t let myself slip away from the life I was building, from Remus. I needed him so much right now, I needed to go home, to hold him, to kiss him and never leave him alone again. 

I felt a warm hand sliding over my shoulder, but I didn’t have the energy to work out who it was, my jaw hurt from where I’d snapped down, my shoulders and hips hurt from carrying my heavy body around, my back hurt because it always hurt. 

‘Angie.’ Kasha. Her voice was placing something warm in my chest that I sorely needed right now. I managed to look up and immediately, almost like a mother, she sat beside me and wiped away my tears. ‘If you call, I will answer.’ Her stuttered English was still rather good. 

‘We will answer.’ Aleksander corrected her and I turned to see that most of the park’s eyes were on me. How could these people, after witnessing what I was capable of, still want to follow me? How could they think it was a good idea? I let my gaze drop to the floor and shed any tears I had left. 

‘Why would you do that?’ I croaked.

‘Because you are my friend,’ Aleksander echoed my own words back to him. ‘You are a part of this pack. There should be no question.’ 

My mind blurred once again and all I could do was cry. My body hurt, my mind was draining and my sense of being was slipping away from me. I just wanted to go home.


	12. ...And Yet Entirely Unknown

Remus was surprised to wake up, look outside his bedroom window and see the silhouette of two people trudging towards his house. He quickly dressed and headed downstairs, wand in hand, it could have been a trick, the rain was coming down lightly, but it would be lashing soon. 

‘Angelina.’ He breathed. He could see his wife being held steady by a woman he recognised from years ago. ‘Elena?’ He questioned, quickly rushing over to take Angelina’s weight from her. He scooped her up in his arms and led Elena back to the house. ‘What happened?’

‘She’s exhausted.’ Elena’s English had always been good, but he supposed without the need to use it all the time, she had gotten rusty. ‘She fought Valentine alone and has been exhausted ever since.’

‘Valentine?’ 

Remus got Angelina into the house and immediately took her upstairs to sleep for a while. He took her clothes off and tucked her beneath the warm sheets and closed the curtains. She looked to have fallen asleep instantly and Remus could only sigh and place a soft kiss to her forehead, before heading back downstairs to see Elena awkwardly standing in his living room.

Elena hadn’t changed too much since he’d last seen her, her dark eyes were still observant, her dark hair was the same length and it seemed she still had a feisty attitude. The one thing Remus did notice was how much seemed to be weighing on her shoulders now. 

‘Would you like some tea?’ Remus offered and led her into the kitchen that was a bit of a mess, but she didn’t seem to mind. 

‘Angie is very special.’ Elena said, taking her leather coat off and sitting down. Remus slowed his movements, unsure of what Elena was getting at. ‘I’ve seen her wolf before, but not like that.’ He turned to see her thinking hard on a memory, something was wrong. 

‘Elena, what did she do?’ Remus asked a little more firmly than he had intended. 

‘She saved us all.’ Elena’s dark eyes were starting to fill with tears, Remus was unsure she was capable of such things, she had always been so guarded. 

Remus finished making some tea and listened to Elena’s story of what his wife did for the sanctuary. It was hard to believe that Angelina’s wolf had grown to the size of a house, but that was what Elena swore she saw and not a single report said otherwise. She told him how once Angelina had changed, not a single spell was cast from the wands of the trainers, Angelina had dealt with the oncoming attacks in quick succession, working on instinct alone, never killing anyone, just wounding them enough to be unable to fight any longer. She was quick, precise and moved with a fury Remus had rarely seen glimpses of. 

‘Did she remember?’ Remus asked, his voice breaking, knowing what the answer was before he even asked the question.

‘She said it was a dream,’ Elena shook her head, playing with the handle of her black mug. ‘One she didn’t think really happened… but it did, I saw her do things no one in this world is capable of.’

Remus took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. He knew Angelina was capable of extraordinary things, but this? This was too much even for her.

‘She cried.’ Elena spoke up. ‘She cried long and hard and then she slept. Aleksander wanted to come, but he had work to do at the sanctuary. I volunteered, I wanted to make sure she made it back to you safely.’

‘And I thank you for that.’ Remus nodded. ‘She does have a habit of returning from abroad in less than one piece.’ Remus ran his hand over his face and thought on what was happening to his wife. 

‘Valentine said the Dark Lord was looking for her.’ Elena nearly broke. ‘The Lockwoods.’ 

Remus’s heart dropped through the floor, if Voldemort was looking for her then no matter what he did, she wouldn’t be safe.

Elena was exhausted as well and so he invited her to rest for a while in their spare room, the one he’d finally finished making fit for purpose, the same one he was excited to show to Angelina when she returned. He supposed she would enjoy it all the same, but he had rather hoped to spend a few days comforting her before the war took them in whatever direction was next.

Elena woke some time in the evening and Remus made sure she ate something before walking her back to the apparation site. She seemed somewhat more refreshed than before and Remus was glad to see some of her strength had returned. They talked about the new improvements to the Sanctuary and how Kasha was getting on at the old Ranger site, it seemed that things had gradually started to improve before the attacks and many werewolves around the world found a caring and loving community to be a part of. Remus made a mental note to tell Alfred and Alice as well as writing to Erin who was still keeping her head down at the school, though every day felt more dangerous than the last to her.

‘It has been good seeing you again, Remus.’ Elena smiled.

‘You too. Please send my love to Aleksander and Kasha as well.’

‘Of course.’ 

Remus found himself hugging his old acquaintance and both of them sorely needing the contact for a moment. Elena eventually apparated back to the ministry to go home and left Remus in the middle of the damp field, hoping his wife was awake and able to recognise him.

I could hear the rain, I could smell chocolate and my own bed. I felt warm and cosy, I never wanted to open my eyes.

‘Angelina.’ Remus? ‘Angelina, open your eyes for me? Please?’ How could I not? How could I not do as my husband asked of me? I forced my eyelids to lift and suddenly I could see a dim light casting over the side of Remus’s face as he looked down at me. The candlelight illuminating every part of his handsome features, even his scars were beautiful. He sighed in relief and gave a small smile.

‘Kiss me.’ I breathed and suddenly his smile widened slightly as he pressed a blissfully soft kiss to my lips. I missed the taste of him, the feel of his love, the warmth of his hands as he cradled my face. I loved him with every part of my being. 

Remus pulled away and just watched me for a moment, his soft eyes scanning my face and taking me in. Why couldn’t we just do this forever? Never leave our bedroom, just embrace the warmth and comfort forever. 

‘I have missed you.’ He said, quietly and pressed another kiss to my lips again. ‘I have missed you so much.’ He sank deeper into the kiss and I wondered briefly if this was all just another dream. ‘Please don’t cry.’ I wasn’t even aware that I had been until he wiped the tears away from my cheeks. 

‘I’m sorry.’ I whispered.

‘Don’t be.’ Remus shook his head. ‘You came home, that’s all I asked and you did it.’ Remus sat up and watched me for a moment longer. ‘Would you like some tea?’ 

I smiled and that was his cue to go downstairs and make us both some much needed tea and food. I was starving and the second he left my side, I felt it. I could suddenly feel everything about my body, every ache and sore muscle, every movement I’d made over the last few days was suddenly catching up to me and soon the memories followed.

I sat up straight with a little difficulty and saw that my bag was sitting close to the door. I held my hand out and summoned it over to the bed and began rummaging through to find the small, wooden box Benji had given me in the Alban Hills, I had intended on asking if Aleksander knew anything about the coins, but it seemed rather pointless in the end.

The box itself was simple, no markings or anything that could have been identified as containing anything other than a few trinkets, nothing of value, but I suspected that was exactly what Felix had intended on. I placed the box to one side and went through my bag to find the memory that Benji had given me, I was much more careful with the vile than I was with the box, I couldn’t risk the vile shattering before I got it to a pensieve. The next step was to find someone who had a pensieve so I could view the memory safely, there was no way I was looking at it in any other way.

‘What’s that?’ Remus entered the bedroom frowning, he set both of our mugs down on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed. ‘Benji’s memory.’ He sighed and suddenly looked slightly disappointed. 

‘Remus-‘ I tried to explain.

‘I had hoped for just one evening with you without the worries of war looming over us.’ He confessed and I suddenly realised that he wasn’t exactly angry that I was barely awake and about to go bounding off again, he was upset that I’d come home, spent two minutes being his wife and without any regard for my health, decided to begin working again. He needed me as much as I needed him and I was ignoring that fact once again. ‘You know Dumbledore has a pensieve. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you using it.’ 

I swallowed thickly, unsure of how to respond. I just watched his blue eyes take in my features once again. 

‘We can talk about it tomorrow.’ I said and placed the vile in the drawer next to my bed, I put the box back in my bag and shoved it to the end of the bed. Remus just watched me with a small smile on his face. ‘Can I talk to you for a while? Tell you how I’m feeling about things?’

‘Of course, you can.’ Remus said gently. ‘Can I get into bed with you?’

‘Always.’ I smiled. 

Remus half laughed, standing up to take his clothes off, I watched him carefully fold his cardigan, his t-shirt and his trousers and place them carefully on the chair in the corner of the room, smiling the entire time. He slid into bed next to me and immediately cradled my body against his, breathing me in and finally I felt calmer. 

I could feel his love, I could feel the penetrating force that was my husband, his skin against my cheek, his long, slender fingers stroking through my hair and delicately placed on my hip, his soft breathing keeping in time with my own. It was perfect. 

‘I lost control.’ I told him, my eyes struggling to stay open, I wasn’t falling asleep, I was just unable to keep my eyes open anymore. ‘I just felt my body turning into the wolf and that was it. Next thing I know, I’m tired and Elena is telling me I saved them… but I don’t remember doing anything.’ I felt the tears seeping through my eyelids once again.

‘It’s okay,’ Remus held me a little tighter. ‘It’s alright, I’m right here.’

‘I’m scared I’m going to lose control again.’

‘You won’t.’ He said, firmly. ‘I won’t let you lose control, Angelina. I won’t let you fall.’ Remus took a breath. ‘I don’t know what the answer is, but I am in this with you. I will never leave you alone or without help, we’re going to finish this together.’

‘Remus, you shouldn’t have to-‘

‘I married you.’ He interrupted me. ‘Angelina, I made a promise to dedicate the rest of my life to making you happy… I would do anything to see that day come to light.’ I had never heard the determination in Remus’s voice before. ‘The first war taught me how short our time is, it showed me that no matter what, the people we love the most are all that truly matter in the end. I love you more than I have ever loved a single person in my entire life. I will end this war for you if I can… but I know my place, and that is right beside you. Nothing will change that.’ Remus kissed my forehead softly. ‘What do we need to do to end this?’

I was quiet for a moment. This was a new side to Remus that a part of me hoped I would never see, the soldier, the warrior, the survivor. He fought in the first war, he fought and lost so much, I could feel his whole being slipping into survival mode, slipping into a state where he was on constant high alert. I wasn’t sure how this side of him would react to my own survival instinct. How would we co-exist in this state? 

‘I need to look at Benji’s memory.’ I said. ‘And talk to Trelawney about the prophecy. I figure she’s the best one to talk to about these things.’

‘That’s a good choice.’ Remus said, still idly stroking through my hair. ‘As annoyingly grim as she can be, Trelawney does know what she’s talking about.’ I felt a small laugh come from my chest, but honestly I just wanted to sleep. ‘When will you go?’

‘As soon as I can.’ I sighed. ‘There’s no time to waste.’

‘You understand that I won’t be able to come with you.’

I let out a deep breath and snuggle closer to his chest. ‘I know. I don’t need you to. Just focus on the Order for now.’ 

Remus kissed the top of my head and eventually we drifted off to sleep.

Remus woke just as the sun came streaking into the room the next day. Angelina was still resting against his chest and his back ached from not wanting to disturb her through the night, but it was worth it to see her beautiful face, still asleep and about as peaceful as she ever looked. 

He grabbed the two mugs still full of tea that had been left untouched the night before and descended the stairs to get the day going. Angelina would probably shower, do her morning chores in the garden and with the owls and then head off to Hogwarts. Remus rinsed the mugs and thought on what he could do for her. He never felt like he was contributing much anymore, just being there to help her body and mind recover, only to watch it be abused and torn all over again in the name of what was right. But how could allowing his wife to suffer be right? 

It was a few moments before Remus suddenly realised, he was crying. He knew perfectly well why; Angelina was losing control over her wolf form, the same thing that happened to him when he transformed. All the talk of protecting her from such pain, all the want for her to live peacefully and know that she was loved, all of it was slipping away and there was not a single thing he could do about it. 

Remus felt two warm arms wrap around his waist as he leaned over the kitchen counter, he half laughed knowing that she would have felt his pain and want to help him.

‘Please don’t cry.’ She said. ‘I hate it when you cry. It always means things are truly bad when you start to lose hope.’

Remus sucked in a deep breath. ‘I could never lose hope in you.’ He said. ‘But hope in myself is another matter.’ He gently turned to hold Angelina against his body, feeling how she had changed over the years, she was stronger and so much more beautiful than he could ever imagine. ‘I am losing hope that I will be able to give you what you need through this war… and I so desperately want to give you everything.’

‘I just need you, Remus.’ Angelina looked up at him with her deep blue eyes. ‘I just need you.’

Remus looked at his wife and tried hard to commit her every feature to memory, to understand what it was that made her beautiful, but he couldn’t do it, even standing in the kitchen they built together, bathing in the marriage they had so far, he couldn’t figure out what it was that made her so attractive to him. She just was. 

‘I love you.’ He said and placed a small kiss to her soft lips. ‘With everything, I love you, Angelina.’ 

‘I love you, too.’ She smiled against his mouth and suddenly he felt okay again. He felt safe and settled and his faith was returning. 

They spent the day together, Angelina needed his support and Remus ended up doing her gardening for her so that she could save some energy that was only just returning to her. They cried at how terrible the world was becoming, but as soon as it felt like it was too much to bear, they would talk about the wedding. It felt like a tether, something to keep them grounded in reality and giving them the motivation to keep moving forward. 

Remus asked her about what happened while she was away in the Hills and Angelina was very forthcoming about what she saw. They tried to decipher the markings on the coins together, but none of it looked like anything they’d ever seen before. 

Some of them were faded so it was difficult to tell if they were different, but Angelina’s instinct was telling her there were two different types. There were maybe five or six that had the same symbol and the rest had another, her suspicions were that one set was for summoning, but they didn’t dare try to summon anything before knowing what exactly it was that was they were messing with.

‘I’ll have to go back into Felix’s memories and try to figure out if he ever used them.’ Angelina sighed, rubbing her eyes and leaning on the kitchen table. ‘And if he did, what he actually summoned.’

‘You think he would have used them?’ Remus asked, seriously. ‘If he buried them that deeply, then it might elude to the fact he never intended them to be used for any reason.’

‘Yeah,’ Angelina nodded. ‘But he might have learnt that the hard way.’ 

She rubbed her eyes again and sat back, stretching her back. 

They both jumped at the sound of Rilee screeching outside. Angelina was the first to jump up, Remus followed in behind and they saw Rilee hopping around outside of the Owlery. Angelina ran inside and all Remus could see was Ruben lying on the floor where he’d fallen from his perch. 

‘He’s dead.’ Angelina croaked. 

Remus did his best to calm Rilee down, she was still young and Ruben was almost fifteen years old. She was frantic as Angelina gently scooped the large barn owl into her arms and headed into the forest to bury him. 

It took a while to get Rilee settled, but eventually she was calmer and Remus kept her cage door open in the corner of the kitchen. Eventually Angelina emerged from the forest and Remus could see her wiping away her tears before she stepped into the house. 

She gave Remus a helpless smile and the flood gates opened up again. Remus wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. They both knew the Ruben’s days were numbered and that this was coming sooner or later, Remus just prayed for later.

‘Do you want to go and see your parents tonight?’ Remus suggested. Angelina didn’t say anything, she just shook her head.

‘Tomorrow.’ She whispered and Remus understood.

Rilee was in mourning and Remus suspected her quite hoots were whipping at Angelina more than she wanted to admit, but she wouldn’t leave Rilee on her own that night. Remus watched her continue to work on the coins, occasionally cry at the death of Ruben and talk to him about how sad she was. 

Remus had never known Angelina to be so open about what she was feeling, as bright and happy as she was in her youth, she never spoke about the events that traumatised her. Remus had worked hard to get her to open up about things and lean on him when she needed someone to help her carry the load, it seemed that lesson had finally sunk in and she was able to see how much he wanted to help her.


	13. The Woes of Sybil

In the lead up to Christmas, I had gone to my parents and told them about Voldemort looking for the Lockwoods, I didn’t know whether to believe Valentine when he said it, but it seemed my mother knew a little more than she let on. She’d heard rumours that some of his followers were looking for me and had harassed Darren at the end of a couple of Quidditch games. I had no doubts that they would never find me at my house, but I couldn’t do anything about Darren.

My mother said he’d asked for additional security going to and from games and it appeared to hold them back, but there was really no telling where they would turn up next. 

Remus had been on night patrols in the Department of Mysteries, I knew a little about what was being protected in there, but he assured me that it was just a precaution and Voldemort wouldn’t get past the front door without alerting someone and that would defeat the point of him rising up in the shadows. 

I had written to David quietly and asked when would be an ideal time to come to the castle so as to cause the least fuss and he told me Christmas would be better. Few students would be around and Umbridge wouldn’t exactly be making many visits to the teacher’s offices, most of what she did was to show how powerful she believed herself to be and with no one to show off to, there would be no point. 

My plan had been disrupted when the news came in about the attack on Arthur Weasley. Remus had been in disarray, he was worrying most of the day, waiting for me to come home from speaking to Darren about what I found in the Hills and everything looked like it was going into freefall. 

‘It’s okay, it’s alright.’ I held him while we sat on the sofa. ‘Arthur is alive and he’s being treated, everything is going to be fine.’ I tired to comfort him, but he was exhausted and ended up crying himself to sleep on top of me. 

I thought long and hard about my conversation with Darren, I made sure to catch him at a lunch event with the rest of the team and only spoke to him using legilimency. He gave me the occasional smile in understanding and I could see how hard he was working to keep the brother at bay. I just wished there was more I could do beyond teaching him to meditate and focus on what was important, but they were the two most powerful things he could do to maintain control over himself.

I had taken a detour through Diagon Alley to see how the shop had been doing and Alfred asked if Darren planned on making a visit at any point, I just told him that with what happened over the last few games, it would be difficult to make it over without causing an incident. It seemed to be enough to settle the older werewolf, who was looking a little worse every day. He was getting old and his body was struggling to take the toll of transformation. Alfred was almost sixty and with his relatively sedentary lifestyle, his body just wasn’t able to cope with the sudden trauma each month. 

I looked down to see Remus snoring away and ran my hair through his greying sandy hair. I loved him with everything I was, he was fun and smart and sexy and kind and everything I felt I never deserved in life, but I was trying to be a good wife, I was trying to communicate with him and tell him when something was bothering me, I was trying so hard to be the woman he deserved to be married to. I just worried that by the time I figured it out, it would be too late.

I spent most days going to and from Grimmauld Place, the shop and my home, keeping my focus up and trying to avoid Knockturn Alley at all costs, rumour had it, that was where most Death Eaters were meeting privately. 

I had been given a few tasks from the minister to investigate a possible coup beginning, he was paranoid that Dumbledore was trying to take his job.

‘Minister, you can’t seriously believe that Dumbledore would want-‘

‘I don’t know what he wants!’ Fudge snapped, he was looking a bit worse for wear, wandering around aimlessly in his office that looked out over the ministry reception area. I could tell that things were getting tighter around the ministry and Fudge was surrounding himself with some very questionable people. I could feel the darkness descending around him. ‘Listen to me, Lockwood,’ Fudge’s pale and bloodshot eyes found mine and I could feel the fear, the confusion, the helplessness. ‘Dumbledore is a powerful man, I’ve never denied it, but he has abused his position at that school long enough, spreading lies about He Who Must Not Be Named, influencing the children-‘

‘Now, just wait a minute, Minister-‘

‘He is a disease!’ Fudge was clearly not thinking straight, he wasn’t of sound mind and I could see glimpses of conversations with Malfoy and other known Death Eaters, possibly he was under the influence of the Imperius Curse, but I had no significant evidence to do anything about it. ‘That man has plagued me since my appointment as Minister, thinks that by his name being merely mentioned as a candidate, it entitles him to some form of special power. No more!’ Fudge stepped towards me, fearfully. Now that he was closer, I could calm him down a little. ‘I want you to go to the school, find out what he’s up to. Stop him from taking my position, disrupting the peace we have lived in for the last fourteen years.’

I did my best to calm Fudge down without being too intrusive, the man had been through enough and I didn’t want to hurt him in any way. I took a deep breath and just watched the Minister for a moment or two.

‘Fine.’ I said and watch relief wash over his face. ‘I will go to the school, but I don’t expect to find anything unusual there.’

‘Regardless of what you think of Umbridge, she has always had the best intentions for the ministry and for this country.’ The minister smiled.

‘She won’t get in my way, you can guarantee it?’ I didn’t want to manipulate the minister, but if I could get into the school, without resistance and with Umbridge out of my way, then I could get a look at Benji’s memory and talk to Trelawney about the prophecy. ‘I don’t want her findings to corrupt my own, you understand?’

The minister frowned and thought about it. ‘Fine, fine, I will write to her at once.’

‘Good.’ I nodded and watched Fudge lumber away to his desk. ‘Get some rest minister, if your suspicions are correct then there’s no point in you not being well rested to deal with it and if you’re wrong… there’s no point dwelling on it.’

Fudge turned his gaze towards me and I worried for a moment that he might attack me, but he soon drifted his eyes slowly back to his desk, it was as if he wasn’t quite behaving of his own volition. I took a small step towards him, but he was still.

‘Minister?’ I tried.

‘I gave you the world when you were fifteen years of age,’ he said quietly. ‘And look what you have done with it.’

The struck a painful chord in my chest, he was right, I hadn’t done much good in the last ten years of my life, nothing that I felt could repay the privileges he gave me when I was young. I sighed and wondered what I could do to help the minister, who was clearly suffering just like the rest of us, the only problem was that he was in denial about the cause.

I left the ministry and headed straight for Grimmauld Place where another meeting would occur before we left for Christmas. Remus gave me a small smile and pulled out a chair for me to take. I looked around the table that was only partially full, there were only a few people able to make it, but that was okay because all the information would reach them anyway. 

I relayed what the minister had asked of me and it only confirmed what we had all long suspected, Fudge was under Voldemort’s control and he didn’t even know.

‘I expect you’ll be making the trip soon?’ Dumbledore peered over his glasses at me.

I nodded, sadly. I really didn’t want to go to the castle so soon, I wasn’t quite ready, but then I hadn’t been ready for anything in recent years and it was showing. 

‘Might I suggest, next week as an opportune time to conduct your investigation.’ I knew Dumbledore wasn’t exactly asking so I just sighed and agreed. I could already feel Remus’s worry building next to me.

‘I thought you wanted to go to the school?’ Remus asked quietly as the meeting concluded. ‘This is the perfect chance to get what you need.’

‘I know.’ I sighed. ‘I’m just worried that it’s too soon, what if I’m not asking the right questions?’

Remus just gave me a half smile and held my hand. ‘You won’t know what the right questions are until you ask the wrong ones.’

I gave him a small smile back and we eventually left Grimmauld Place. Arthur would be there soon with the rest of the Weasleys and the Potters. I was a little confused as to how Harry knew Arthur was even on patrol, but Remus informed me that Dumbledore was keeping a lot more to himself than he was letting on. The days were starting to darken and we were all worried for what was coming.

Christmas Eve seemed like the perfect day to head to the castle, I could use David as a good cover for going to see Trelawney and my reasoning to see Dumbledore would take care of itself. 

Snow caked the ground beneath my feet as I trod the familiar path up to the castle gates. Somehow it didn’t have the air of awe that it used to, another indication of the fear growing amongst the wizarding world. No one was ignorant to the feeling surrounding Hogwarts, the ministry, or Diagon alley, but almost everyone was pretending not to recognise what was happening.

‘It’s getting worse.’ David said, quietly as our footsteps echoed throughout the corridors. ‘Every day, another kid comes to find me, McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick and few others, all of them worried about their parents, or their parents worried about their place at the school.’ David sighed, pulling the sleeves of his cream cable knit sweater down to shield himself from the cooler air. ‘It’s like Azkaban most days, cold, dark and without much hope for happiness.’

‘It’s not just Hogwarts.’ I agreed as we went up the steps to the divination room where Trelawney was presumably waiting for us. ‘The whole world is getting colder. When I was in Bulgaria seeing Aleksander, nothing felt the same as it did before, it was just paranoia and panic.’

‘McGonagall said this is how it started last time,’ David lowered his voice even further, the echo carried and he couldn’t risk his words getting too far. ‘When Voldemort gained power last time, she said it was like the world suddenly started shrinking, but it was slow and when the real war finally broke out, everyone was too tired to actually find something worth fighting for.’

I nodded. ‘It’s an effective way of fighting I suppose, take away that which we care for most, destroy our faith in each other and then tear us apart like we’re nothing.’

‘You sound as if you know what you’re talking about.’ 

We stopped outside Trelawney’s classroom and David gave me a deep frown.

‘The brothers weren’t the only ones who got themselves into bloody wars,’ I whispered. ‘Felix was responsible for his fair share of bloodshed. So were a lot of Lockwoods, it doesn’t bode well for mine and Darren’s future.’

‘We all know this will end in a war, Angie, we’re preparing for that.’

‘No, you’re preparing to win a fight, but this fight won’t be like when Jack died and it won’t be like anything you or I have ever seen before. It’ll be worse, more people will die, people you and I love more than anything… but if we survive, if we make it out with something more than our bodies, then there will be enough hope to carry us through into the next stage of life.’ I sighed. ‘I have to believe that something better is waiting for us all at the end of this war, because if there isn’t… why are bothering to fight so hard?’

Before David could really take in anything in, Trelawney appeared at her door a little startled. 

‘Oh.’ She looked at us both through her huge round glasses that made her eyes look four times bigger than was natural. ‘Can I help you?’ 

David and I shuffled awkwardly for a moment, she was always a little ditsy at the best of times, something I’d almost entirely forgotten. 

‘Yes, Sybil, you remember I said I’d be bringing Angie to meet you?’ David said and suddenly Trelawney began to remember.

‘Oh yes, yes of course, come in, Miss Lockwood.’ Trelawney gave a little bow and gesture for us both to enter into her darkened classroom. ‘Forgive the lack of light, I was… well… yes… tea?’ 

I frowned at David who just shrugged, she could literally have been doing anything and it wasn’t exactly a priority to find out at that moment. 

Trelawney went about making tea, never quite holding eye contact with me and I tried not to think to much on it. She was an incredibly empathetic woman, there was every chance she could feel the brother inside me and it was causing her an immense amount of discomfort. She finally settled in her armchair while David and I sat on low stools, the same way we did back in third year when we were still taking the subject. 

‘You have come to talk about the prophecy?’ Trelawney sipped her tea and I eyed David suspiciously. I had hoped to keep the details quiet until I arrived. ‘Oh don’t worry about Daniel-‘

‘David.’ The man himself sighed.

‘Yes, David, he did not tell me about the Lockwood Prophecy,’ Trelawney tried to assure me. ‘I learned of its existence from an old monk who was studying old forgotten prophecy’s, ones that were probably outdated or whose time had passed.’

‘Right,’ I nodded. ‘And you think Lockwood’s prophecy is in the past?’

‘Oh, good gracious no! No, that one is still to come.’

‘Right.’ I shifted again and looked at David who was at a loss as well. ‘Okay, well, it’s just that I had a few questions.’

‘Questions?’ Her voice heightened for a moment, was she scared?

‘Do you know what the prophecy is about?’ I asked as gently as I could.

‘I’m afraid it’s been a long time since reading it, I couldn’t possibly-‘

‘I can write it down for you.’ I said, knowing that she was trying to fidget her way out of it.

‘Well, erm, yes, that would be, yes, useful. Yes.’ Trelawney nodded unable to think of another excuse quickly enough. 

I grabbed a parchment and quill and wrote it down word for word, handing it over and watching her worried eyes scan the parchment. David just kept a cautious eye on the door behind him, something I had to admit I was worried about as well, I didn’t want Umbridge suddenly walking in on us. 

Trelawney suddenly began focussing on the puzzle in front of her and began mumbling to herself, none of the words were recognisable, but I didn’t want to disturb her mind by intruding. 

‘Sybil?’ David softly spoke. She looked over at him and came back into the room, properly. ‘Any ideas?’ He pressed.

‘Oh well, yes, many.’ She nodded. ‘There are several people mentioned, but with age the accuracy of interpretation will be minimal.’

‘What does that mean? How many people are mentioned?’ I said as calmly as I could.

‘Oh, erm, one, two, three…’ she counted them up quickly. ‘Six, possibly?’

‘Six?!’ I exclaimed. 

‘Or two.’

I was started to lose a little patience. Why couldn’t these things be clear? 

‘Two or six? Is that what you’re telling me?’ I clarified.

‘As I said, accuracy of interpretation diminishes over time-‘

‘All I needed was an interpretation!’ I snapped. ‘Just one accurate theory about whether my brother and I will kill each other, just one shred of hope that there was a way out of this-‘

‘Angie.’ David said, calming me down.

‘And you can’t even do that.'

‘That’s enough, Angie.’ David snapped back, making me turn and realise what I had done.

‘I’m sorry.’ I shook my head. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap, I don’t know why I got so angry.’

‘They fury of a wolf.’ Trelawney mused, accepting my outburst.

‘Sybil, you said accuracy diminishes over time,’ David refocussed the conversation. ‘Why is that?’

‘Oh, language, culture, differences in religion, it is impossible to interpret prophecies of the past with precision unless you have a full understanding of the seer and the time it was made.’ Trelawney explained.

‘Okay, well, this was made three thousand years ago,’ David pushed on, he was the only one thinking with any clarity. ‘Does that help?’

‘Well, it certainly gives context, but I’m afraid without knowing which seer made the prophecy, I will not be able to give you more than I already have.’ Trelawney looked at me sympathetically and it was the last thing I needed.

‘Is there a way out of prophecies?’ I asked. ‘Is there a way to stop them happening?’

‘Impossible to say,’ she shook her head. ‘Three thousand years ago, they were placed into smaller glass spheres, many thinking the size of orb would indicate it’s importance, the smaller being less so and the bigger being more so, but those with less than kind intentions may well have taken advantage of that.’ Trelawney placed the parchment on the table next to her tea. I stared idly at the words thinking that this had all been a waste of time. ‘These days prophecies may only be retrieved by those whom they are about, but before the time of the ministry, they could be retrieved by anyone.’

‘Well then how did they stop everyone hearing them?’ David frowned.

‘Professional seers would place a containment charm on the orbs, so that they may only ever be heard by those whom it is about.’

Something about that sentence had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up on end.

‘Okay, well Angie heard it so does that help you interpret anything else?’ David asked, hoping it might give more detail on how to get out of the oncoming war.

‘Oh, well, the words indicate that the prophecy is about this one called the Last Wolf, mentioned a total of five times, the mentioning of a subject multiple times can be an indicator of who the prophecy is specifically talking about.’ Trelawney quickly counted them up. ‘The way it is written may also indicate a change of subject, possibly daughter and she-wolf are in reference to the same individual?’

‘But there’s no way to be sure?’ I sighed.

‘I’m afraid not.’

‘Okay.’ I nodded and tried to think for a moment. ‘What if the prophecy isn’t about me? What if it’s reference to someone else? Could it be heard by more than one person?’

‘Like Darren?’ David nodded with me.

‘Your brother?’ Trelawney mused. ‘Hmm, yes, that would change some of the meaning of certain lines, but I’m afraid there really is no way to tell.’

I eyes Trelawney for a moment, there was definitely something else on her mind, but she seemed somewhat fragile and I would feel guilty about disturbing that.

‘I am sorry I couldn’t be more useful to you.’ She handed the parchment back to me. I nodded and sighed.

‘It’s fine, I wasn’t sure what I was expecting anyway.’ I stood up, David following my lead. ‘There really is no way out of this? Darren and I will die at the end?’

‘Prophecies are curious things, yours is particularly complex, but once a decision has been made, I’m afraid your fate cannot be escaped.’ Trelawney looked away.

‘Right.’ I nodded finally and led David out of the old classroom.

‘Well, that seemed like a waste of time.’ David commented quietly as we began making our way to Dumbledore’s office. ‘What are you thinking?’

‘I’m not sure.’ I shook my head. ‘I feel like she said something important, but I’m very frustrated right now and I can’t focus properly. What do you think?’

David took a deep breath. ‘I hate to say it, but I don’t think this will end well for anyone.’

I appreciated the honesty, I could always rely on David to be so, but sometimes, a lie couldn’t hurt.


	14. Reality Check

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! It's been ages and I know you've been wanting the next chapter as soon as possible, I will try to update again as soon as I can, I promise.

The sky was a penetrating cold sheet of steel grey, the wind was painful and icy and every step was more draining than the last. I could hear a very distant echo, a scream. I recognised the voice, I knew I did. The look on Benji’s face told me everything I needed to know; it was Jocelyne. He continued forward, trying desperately to ignore it, trying not to think about his wife or his children potentially being tortured.

Benji held his wand out in front of him with the light emitting from the end, but everywhere I looked was just black, he continued to tread carefully towards the part of the village that the coins were buried. The screams getting louder, a new voice was starting to creep in, one that was much softer and gentler.

‘Benji.’ The voice whispered. ‘You can make it stop. You can save them.’ The voice sounded motherly, but Benji couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. He finally found the spot and began digging. ‘Benji, my darling boy, help your wife. She is dying.’ 

Benji was almost convinced, but he continued to dig anyway. The voice continued to torture him with images and sounds of screaming, sometimes it was a shadow running close to him and it was suddenly no wonder he’d come back in the state that he had. It was enough to upset me.

The one thing that bothered me was how little time Benji appeared to spend in the village. He took nearly three hours to find the coins, but the memory was a little over twenty minutes, including his very brief look at the statue which looked just the same as I had left it. There was no time to assess what I was seeing, instead Benji shoved the small chest into his coat pocket, scooped up my broom and flew away, crying heavily and trying to regain some of his steady breathing. 

I took a deep breath and find myself back in Dumbledore’s office. I knew he was watching me, but I just needed a moment to calm down and breathe. I closed my eyes and tried to picture the statue again, there was something about it. Something I would need to meditate on and make clearer for myself.

‘Angie?’ Dumbledore whispered. I opened my eyes and realised that it was dark in the office now, how long had I been in there for? ‘Are you alright?’ 

‘Fine.’ I panted. ‘Just… just lost track of time.’

‘Time does appear to be a curious factor these days.’ Dumbledore nodded and stepped towards me slowly. He waved his hand over the pensieve and I watched it fold away. Without saying anything else, Dumbledore invited me to sit with him. ‘Was your visit with Sybil of any use to you?’

‘I don’t know.’ I sighed and slumped down in the chair opposite his desk. ‘She seems to be under the impression that the prophecy can no longer be deciphered with any kind of accuracy.’ 

‘Your pursuit of knowledge has always been a source of inspiration,’ he commented. ‘But this is the first time I have seen it prevent you from making the choices that must soon be made.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You know as well as I do that Sybil said something very important to you, that this chase for answers is preventing you from gaining the freedom you so desperately desire.’ I watched him for a moment. ‘My advice to you, let the prophecy go, carve out your own destiny and ignore the signs of complacency. What should be and what will be are two very different paths, you must be clear about which you are following… for the sake of us all.’

I watched my old headmaster for a moment. ‘You know it will be a bloodbath.’ I whispered.

‘We can prevent it from ever getting that far.’ Dumbledore implored. ‘We can stop this from ever turning into a war and we can save those who deserve to be saved.’

I swallowed thickly. I felt as though I was being asked to do something, something I may not yet have had the courage to do. ‘All I care about is my family. They deserve to be free from this.’ I wasn’t sure at what point I had started crying, but suddenly the pressure I was under was becoming so much clearer than it had ever been. I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to make the hard choices anymore, I was just so tired. I sobbed hard and felt a thin hand run over my shoulder, the only comfort it seemed Dumbledore was able to provide.

I wiped away my tears, rubbing my eyes and trying to recompose myself. I couldn’t let this break me now.

‘Angie-‘

‘I have to go.’ I stood up and went to leave, but something made me stop and stare up at the sorting hat. It was staring a dark and deep hole into me.

‘Lockwood.’ It spoke curiously. ‘The time for uncertainty is over. Pick a side so this war may be over before it begins.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Right and easy are the only two choices you have ever had and the time has long since past that you decide which path you will choose to follow. It will end in fire and blood and sacrifice, but who, what and when are still to be determined. You know this. You feel this… you’ve seen this.’

I suddenly felt the fire of the Hungarian Horntail against my skin, I could taste the blood and feel the fear, the same way I did when I was fighting it. The image was gone before it really showed itself, but I would remember it anywhere and I would run from it on pure instinct, deny it for everything it made me feel. Was it so wrong to want to run from a fight? Was it so undeniably cowardly to live out my days in my cottage, instead of fighting in a war I never wanted in the first place? I didn’t know the right answer anymore. 

I left the castle, feeling the brisk snowy air against my cheeks, cooling the memory of dragon fire and making me feel normal for just a moment.

Remus waited all day for Angelina, worrying that she was still at the castle, or that Umbridge had found her and worked out her true intentions. He wondered if he should have gone to the castle himself and retrieved her, but that seemed irrational at best. 

Remus sighed and walked to the end of the porch, hoping to see a glimpse of light through the darkened sky. She should have returned by now. He tried to reason that she was probably just with David, talking and catching up, that David was the one person now who could bring out a side of her that was sorely missed by everyone. Part of him hoped she was drinking with him and behaving the way she should have done at her age, but he knew that none of that was really the case. 

Finally, a small light was glistening in the darkness, creeping closer and closer until Remus could see his exhausted wife trudging through the field towards their home. She suddenly stopped in front of him and he recognised that look, she had just realised something.

‘Remus.’ She whispered and strode up to him, wrapping her slender, shaking arms around his waist and holding him close. 

Remus didn’t hesitate, he held her close and kissed her head, unsure of what to do to settle her shaking. 

‘What happened?’ He asked. It was a moment before she answered.

‘I don’t really know.’ She half laughed and looked up at him with her beautiful blue orbs. ‘Benji went through so much to get those coins, we need to figure out what they were used for.’

‘Alright, we can do that.’ Remus ran his hand through her hair, noting how cold she was. ‘Let’s get you inside and warmed up and then we can talk about it. Okay?’

‘Okay.’ She smiled as much as she could, but Remus knew her face so well that Benji was not the first thing she thought of when she stopped in front of him.

Remus was kind to his wife, he tried to do what he could for her, he made her eat when he knew she’d be hungry, he took her to see her parents when he knew she missed them and he gave her all the help and understanding he could when they researched the coins together. Christmas was hard, the only saving grace was that Arthur was on the mend and the children were about as safe as they could be. 

Sirius had done his part in helping to cheer Angelina up, but Remus knew there was still something that was being avoided. Angelina was keeping something important to herself.

I knew Remus suspected something, but I just couldn’t tell him anything until I felt more sure of my conclusion, it would only panic him. He was kind and did his best to keep me occupied, but the more he did for me, the more I began to understand what the prophecy was really about. 

It had hit me like a hammer to the chest, all the evidence I had accumulated over the past years, all those little details, all of it adding up to one undeniable conclusion. The prophecy made no mention of Darren and I killing each other, only one person was going kill and that person was unnamed, only one person was going to die and that person was also unnamed. The Last Wolf was the key, Trelawney had said that the prophecy was about them and I was almost certain that it wasn’t me.

Remus had taken me to Grimmauld Place to see Sirius and wish Harry luck for the new year, but I found something curious in the air surrounding him that I couldn’t quite place.

‘You’ve been up to something, haven’t you?’ I grinned, watching his eyes widen slightly. ‘Anything to do with Umbridge?’ 

Harry sighed as we stayed quiet in the corner of the kitchen, everyone else was busy saying their goodbyes or getting ready to get the train, so no one was paying us much attention for the time being. 

‘She isn’t letting us practice any magic,’ he said. ‘What if the school is attacked and we can’t call for help in time? We’d be defenceless.’

‘So, what’s your solution to that?’ I asked, curiously.

‘We meet up in the Room of Requirement to practice magic.’ 

I sucked in a deep breath and nodded. ‘You’re taking a big risk.’ I told him, glancing around at the kitchen. ‘Make sure you take every precaution, don’t get lazy or too complacent, the second you do, she’ll find out. Trust me, the last thing you need is Umbridge being sure of anything, she can make things much more difficult for all of us if she so chooses.’ I turned back to see him surprised that I was giving him advice rather than a scolding. ‘The coming months will be hard enough, don’t give anyone any reason to worry more than we already are. So, stay smart, stay focused and even on those days you feel like giving up, don’t give anyone an inch. You understand?’ Harry nodded. ‘Good… the shield charm can be extended to protect more than one person at a time, it might be an idea for you to work on that, some are not as good at producing a shield as others. You might also find targeting the chest and spine are often useful in disabling opponents.’ He was trying not to smile. ‘Advice is the best protection I can give you right now Harry, but don’t be under any illusion that I wouldn’t come to your aid the second you ask for it. But you do need to ask.’

‘I will.’ Harry nodded.

‘I know.’ 

I tried my hardest to communicate with just a look and as subtly as I could. The fact that they were defying Umbridge so blatantly would not end well and quite possibly people would get hurt, if it came to that, I would be there to put a stop to it in a heartbeat, but I needed to be kept in the loop. Harry seemed to understand and soon was being whisked off to Platform 9¾.

We didn’t go with him, but I had it on good authority from Benji that Sirius had argued about him seeing Harry off. It wasn’t a good idea, even I could see that, but I also understood that Sirius had been locked up for months with very little to do and very little making him feel useful.

Remus and I didn’t stay to find out the end of the argument, we just went to Diagon Alley to see how the shop was doing. Poorly, was the answer. Diagon Alley was only scattered with a few people here and there, mostly those who didn’t have children or whose children were no longer going to Hogwarts. There had been a spike in sales over the summer and a little at Christmas, but I wasn’t sure if it was enough to keep the shop open through the harsher periods of the year. 

‘We’ll be fine.’ Alfred assured me, coughing as he did. He looked so ill these days, his condition catching up to him and his body beginning to fail him. ‘We always are Angie.’ He nodded, I darted over to help him up as he struggled and let Alice take him upstairs to rest for a while.

Casper soon appeared at the door, wiping his feet on the mat and trying to fend off the cold with his thick grey coat. He was looking tired, but growing into his boyish features very well, I always liked Casper, he was entirely unassuming and had a good heart. 

‘Angie, hello.’ He said, smiling. I nodded and let him come into the shop a little more to hang his coat up. ‘Remus.’ He nodded, shaking Remus’s hand. 

‘Casper, how are you?’

‘Well, all things considered.’ Casper gave a tight smile and I wondered why. ‘How was Christmas at the Lupin’s?’

‘The Lockwood’s actually,’ Remus corrected him as I wandered to the bottom of the stairs, listening to the sounds of Alfred coughing and Alice trying to help him into bed. ‘We were Angelina’s parents this year… they’re always very welcoming.’ I could feel Remus watching me. ‘What about yourself? Good Christmas?’

Casper was silent for a moment too long. ‘Yeah, it was great as usual. Lots of food, lots of presents and family. It’s what counts, right?’ He had another tight smile and wandered over to where a box of stock was being put out by Alice. 

Remus and I exchanged a look of concern, he was far too cheerful and had yet to ask about Alfred who he surely would have seen being helped up the stairs by Alice. 

‘Everything alright, Casper?’ Remus approached the young man.

‘Of course.’ Casper gave a worried smile, but my husband was a man not easily fooled by a simple smile. ‘It’s just… there’s a lot of things going wrong, aren’t there? A lot of unexplained things happening… Dumbledore came to the shop a few months ago, you were away at the time, he asked me to join the Order.’ That got my attention more than I would have liked to admit. ‘I said yes because I thought it was the right thing to do, but…’

‘But now things are starting to look real.’ I sighed.

‘I sound like a coward for saying it, but yeah.’ Casper was on the verge of tears. ‘I’m scared.’

Remus took a breath and placed his hand on Casper’s shoulder. ‘We’re all scared, but that doesn’t mean we’re cowards. Our choices and our actions will dictate our lives, not the perception others have of us. I heard you have been taking over Arthur’s patrol shifts while he is still recovering.’ Casper nodded. ‘Doesn’t sound like something a coward would do to me, it sounds incredibly brave given what happened to Arthur.’

‘I volunteered.’ Casper was struggling against his tears. ‘It just didn’t seem fair to ask Tonks or Kingsley when they have properly important stuff to do. I just work in a shop.’

‘No, you don’t, of course you don’t,’ Remus implored. ‘Casper, you are a beacon of hope for many of us who struggle. You wanted to be a Healer, but when that failed you found a new way to help those who suffer, you saw that the load was growing heavy for the Aurors so you volunteered to help carry it in going on patrol. You are not just a shopkeeper, you are important, and we will not win the war without you, of that I am certain.’

I always admired Remus for his ability to instil bravery into anyone, but more than that, he allowed others to place value on themselves when they believed they had none. Casper had value and it just took a word from the greatest man I have known for him to see it.

Alfred seemed to be doing okay and the shop was closing early to avoid any unwanted visitors. Remus and I took our leave and went home for the evening to try to make sense of what was happening around us.

‘I like what you said to Casper.’ I said, pouring some hot water into two mugs while Remus locked up for the evening. ‘I think he needed to hear something like that.’

‘I think we all need a little encouraging from time to time, to remind us that there is hope for happiness.’ Remus gave a small smile as he wandered into the kitchen, leaning against the counter by the back door. ‘You’re thinking on Alfred, aren’t you?’ He knew me so well. ‘I can’t make you feel any better about it.’

‘I know.’ I nodded and wandered towards the fridge. 

‘Angelina, you understand that that day is still a long way off?’ 

That was the only thing he needed to say to have me almost losing control of my emotions.

‘But it will come far sooner than I want.’ I sniffed, pouring the milk. ‘I knew, I knew when we first started seeing each other that werewolves have a shorter lifespan and I knew why, but I’d never even thought the day would come where you would die. Even a war starting didn’t make it a reality for me, but now…’

I was shaking and Remus hands sliding over mine was exactly what I needed. He kissed my hands and held them close to his chest. 

‘Angelina,’ he breathed. ‘My wonderful wife.’ That made me chuckle a little. ‘Death is a part of life, you know that. Dwelling on it, fearing it, doesn’t stop it, nothing can. We will all die one day, but what we do with our lives is the one thing that really matters in the end.’ He kissed my hands again and brought me closer to his chest, running his fingers through my hair. ‘What’s the real problem here? What are you really afraid of?’

I couldn’t answer. I wanted to, I wanted to tell him everything that was inside my head, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.

‘Take me to bed.’ I said and leaned up to kiss him.


	15. The Warnings We Give

‘I don’t know what you want me to say, Minister.’ I said, feeling the exhaustion start to hit. ‘I have made two separate visits to Hogwarts, one anticipated, one not and I found no evidence of any foul play by the Headmaster.’

‘Then you cannot have done your job properly!’ The minster snapped. It was late at night in his office and we were both getting tired. I had just come back from Hogwarts, having gone to see Trelawney for a second time to confirm my new conclusion about the prophecy and what it meant might happen, to my frustration, she agreed. ‘You questioned him thoroughly?’

‘Yes.’ I sighed.

‘You made sure you were alone?’

‘Yes.’

‘In his office?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did you speak with Dolores?’

‘I told you, I didn’t want her corrupting any information I found-‘

‘She is the only one making sense of his actions!’

I took a breath and felt something snap inside my head. ‘Minister, if it were me sitting in that chair and one person was telling me something whilst everyone else was telling me different, I would start to wonder about that person’s intentions.’

The minister said nothing, he just sat and stared at me wild-eyed and scared.

‘I’m not trying to accuse her of anything, but it is curious that all this supposed evidence has suddenly come to light given it was never discovered before her presence in a place so far from this office.’ I could see something working in the Minister’s head, something was being thrown off balance. ‘I would be careful about who I called ‘friend’ minister, in your position, they must be very difficult to come by and even harder to keep.’

Fudge was speechless, he just nodded for me to leave and there was no way I was hesitating. I needed to get home and try to focus myself on those coins and what Benji saw whilst in the village. 

Remus was on a night patrol with Casper, he’d requested the shift to make sure Casper didn’t lose his courage and worried that I would feel alone, but the reality was, I needed the time to myself to find answers.

My father had been the first one I told, I didn’t trust anyone else and my mother was looking after Darren, I didn’t want to disturb that for the time being, not until I figured out what to do.

‘Dad.’ I smiled, seeing him finishing his tea in my kitchen.

‘Angie.’ He held his arms out and brought me into the most fatherly hug he could conjure up. ‘I like what you’ve done with the kitchen, nice and cosy. Looks like home.’

‘Feels it.’ I agreed, looking up at my father’s aging blue eyes. When did his face gain so many lines? 

‘Are you ready?’ He asked, frowning down at me.

I nodded and grabbed a few blankets as well as a tent for my father to rest in while I was busy, he was really only there for support, just in case I got stuck or got in too deep and needed help. 

We walked out into the frosty air, his old and now tatty grey coat hugged his thinning body as we walked into the forest just behind my home. He wrapped his slightly torn red scarf around his neck and followed me for nearly half an hour before we found somewhere suitable.

‘It’s a good spot.’ My father pushed his glasses up his nose, panting slightly. ‘Lots of room to think and we’ll be able to see anything creeping up on us very quickly. Why don’t you get set up and I’ll have a look around? Just in case.’ 

I nodded and watched my father bring his wand out and head off into the darkness. I got a fire going and set up the small tent beneath a fat tree trunk, big enough to shield my father from the cold wind and give him somewhere to sleep if he needed to. I had to admit, I was a little worried about what we were doing.

My father came back nearly ten minutes later, he seemed satisfied with the surroundings and sat down at the tent’s opening, warming his hands by the fire. He gave me a smile as I settled on the blankets, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes to meditate.

Remus wandered through the aisles, Casper only on the other side and Tonks was going to take over soon. He was trying to keep Casper thinking positively, encouraging him not to dwell on things he couldn’t change.

‘We all have a part to play here,’ Remus said, quietly. ‘The only thing you have to do is what you can, no one is asking more than that.’

‘I know.’ Casper nodded through the glass orbs of the Department of Mysteries. ‘I just wish I was capable of more, I think Angie needs me to be able to do more and I wish I could find the courage to be what she needs us all to be.’ Remus felt himself smiling in a sad way. 

‘I knew a man who thought that once,’ Remus sighed as they came to the end of an aisle, choosing another and walking side by side, keeping their voices down. ‘He was one of the most gifted Healers this world will ever see and he was an uncommonly kind man. He admired Angelina, her courage, her pursuit of knowledge, determination when the odds were not in her favour, he shaped himself into the man he thought she needed and in turn, sacrificed his own needs. He wanted her to see that he could be better and rather than think through what was best for himself and those around him, he followed Angelina blindly. For the most part, it was harmless, until the day it wasn’t.’

‘What happened?’ Casper frowned.

‘He died.’ Remus felt the ache of that day and the way Angelina had cried so hard. ‘His name was Jack Rathborne, I’m sure you’ve heard of him.’

‘Yeah, he was Angie’s partner when they created Lockwood’s Wolfsbane.’

‘I owe him a debt I cannot possibly hope to pay.’ Remus nodded. ‘But he was a generous soul and I think perhaps, if I live the life his work has afforded me and live it as well as I can, in the end, he might forgive me.’

‘Forgive you for what?’ Casper stopped, making Remus turn to face him, not realising quite how the conversation had ended up this way.

‘He was twenty years old when he died,’ Remus explained. ‘He fought hard against a dark wizard called Yoshi Nakamura, who was eventually taken to prison for his crimes, but Jack died here in the ministry because Angelina had asked him to fight for her. She asked too much of him and I took away the one thing he truly wanted. Angelina.’

Casper frowned. ‘He was in love with her.’

‘He was.’ Remus nodded, grimacing when he thought about it for too long. ‘I don’t know how this war will go, let alone end, but my wife is no longer fighting our fight. She is on a different path, fighting a war that has been raging on for a very long time.’ Remus took a step towards the young man who was suddenly more confused than ever. ‘Casper, I am asking you as a friend, do not dwell on what Angelina wants of you. If you follow her blindly, her war will get you killed far sooner than the one against Voldemort and with much less mercy. I ask you to think only on what you can do to help the Order and help Alfred and Alice, right now, they need you more than Angelina does.’

‘You’re asking me to give up on the one person who gave me everything I have.’ Casper was suddenly very frustrated. ‘I don’t understand, she’s your wife. She gave me a job, she helped me figure out my purpose, I can’t just abandon that.’

‘I’m not asking you to abandon your purpose, but to fulfil it.’ Remus snapped, taking a breath, hating every word that was pouring from his mouth. ‘Angelina inspired you to be an active part of helping the werewolf community, I am asking you to do just that. Angelina will not ask for your help unless she absolutely needs it, but do not be under any delusion that she will take advantage of it if you offer. I cannot watch her do that again and I cannot watch another life be taken in such a way. Please just help Alfred and Alice, protect them and answer the Order’s calls for help.’

Casper didn’t say anything, but he seemed not to be able to argue either way. Remus knew he’d gotten through to him and by the time Tonks came along, he showed some mercy and told Casper he would take the rest of the patrol with Tonks so that he may get some rest. 

Tonks was confused, thinking she was supposed to spend the next few hours patrolling with Casper, but instead she was stuck with a very tired old werewolf. 

Remus hated himself, he hated everything about what he had told Casper, but Angelina had asked it of him. She had asked that Remus act as guardian of the keep, to make sure that the Order members who were more likely to follow her, stayed well away. She couldn’t risk their lives in a war she wasn’t sure she’d win. Remus had argued with her, told her she was being ridiculous and that the Order would gladly come to her aid if she asked, but Angelina told him no. 

There were two wars going on here and both were about to get worse before they got better, but the sooner one ended, the easier the other might have been. 

Remus made her promise to keep Benji, David and Jocelyne in the loop, they were her oldest friends and the people most likely to understand, but again she refused stating that the war with Voldemort was their fight, the war of the Lockwood’s was hers. 

‘Won’t Angie wonder where you are?’ Tonks asked as they began wandering around the seemingly endless row of prophecies. It was silence everywhere they walked. 

‘She’ll be fine.’ Remus half smiled. ‘She’s occupied tonight anyway, with her father I think.’

‘Everything alright?’ Tonks asked, curiously. Remus could see she was just showing concern as a friend and nothing more, but he wasn’t sure how comfortable he felt revealing anything to Tonks. ‘Remus, you know you can talk to me. Despite our differences, I like Angie, she’s what we need right now… and so are you.’

Somehow, Tonks had always had a way of making him smile. She was vibrant and made him feel comfortable without really trying.

‘It’s nothing to be concerned about,’ Remus shook his head. ‘Just the usual war time worries and marriage difficulties that everyone has.’

Tonks nodded. ‘Well, if you ever want to talk, or just get things off your chest, you know where I am.’

Remus smiled, it was appreciated and he suspected that Tonks and he would grow closer before the end of the war, whatever that meant. It was good to keep the people you trusted close and Tonks had never given reason to be mistrusted.

The night was long and relatively quiet, Remus felt slightly better about things once Tonks had shared a few jokes and relaxed his mind with her refreshing personality, but he was still exhausted. They went back to Grimmauld Place to get any updates and so that Remus could catch up with Sirius, who was talking to James, surprisingly.

‘Prongs.’ Remus gave a smile and nodded to his old friend, but wasn’t greeted in the same manner. ‘What’s wrong?’

Sirius took them to the other end of the kitchen so that they wouldn’t be overhead. James seemed incredibly frustrated and worried, something they hadn’t seen for fourteen years.

‘Remus, I know it’s a stupid thing to be worried about,’ James started whispering. ‘But Lily’s worried as well. It’s just that he got to us last time, and we know it was Peter last time, but what if someone else, I mean he could, couldn’t he?’

‘You’re not making an awful lot of sense,’ Remus frowned. ‘Who are we talking about? Voldemort?’

‘James is worried he’s going to find them again.’ Sirius clarified.

‘Right.’ Remus sighed. In all his worried for Angelina and her war, he’d completely missed out on his friend’s position. Voldemort found the Potter’s last time, there was no reason why it couldn’t happen again. ‘Do you really think there could be another spy?’

‘We didn’t think so last time.’ Sirius implored. ‘Look what happened.’ It was clear he was frustrated anyway, but with James in trouble and Sirius unable to physically help, it must have been unbearable.

‘Of course,’ Remus remembered all too well. ‘Well, you can’t stay here, it’ll lead them right back to Sirius and put Harry in danger.’

‘I know.’ James was at breaking point.

‘You can’t stay with us, because…’ Remus stopped, noting his own frustrations. ‘What about the Lockwoods? George and Anna would be more than willing-‘

‘You can’t tell me you think their house is safe?’ James half laughed. ‘The ministry arrested Darren on a whim, you think the Death Eaters wouldn’t just turn up and slaughter us?’

‘James,’ Remus calmed his friend. ‘The minister could only get so far when he turned up last time, Kingsley was a friend of the Lockwoods when he went to arrest Darren… no one with bad intentions ever makes it close to a Lockwood home. Angelina has made sure the same precautions have been taken on both her parent’s and our home.’

‘Then why can’t he stay with you?’ Sirius questioned, rightfully.

‘Because… because Angelina is working on something that might attract attention.’ Remus put it plainly. ‘The Lockwood’s house is the safest place anyone could be right now. If I ask, they will allow you to stay, I promise.’

James and Sirius seemed unsure, but Remus needed to sleep and wasn’t in the mood for arguing. He told James to pack up and be ready in a few days, Anna would come for him and keep them both safe. 

Remus lay down in his usual room in Grimmauld Place and his last thoughts before closing his eyes on the rising sun was of his wife and the danger she was getting herself into.


	16. Choosing Sides

George watched his daughter over the course of the cold night spent in the middle of the forest behind her house. He watched over her, protecting her space and ensuring she remained undisturbed. Angie couldn’t specify how long it would take, anything between hours and weeks, but he would sit and he would remain alert for as long as it would take for her to finally find the answer to the Lockwood curse.

Remus was the keeper, the guardian of the home, but George was the protector of family and he would do so until his dying day, nothing took priority over his children, they would put an end to suffering, they were the key and he was happy to facilitate their destiny. He could feel greatness surrounding them both, they were meant for lives far greater than that of a celebrated Healer or Auror, their names would stand the test of time, but the question of how or why, remained. After all, Voldemort was a great wizard, but not necessarily for the right reasons. George just prayed for the fates to show mercy on his children.

The sun was starting to come up and Angie had yet to move, she seemed to be in some discomfort, possibly cold, but George was under strict instruction that she not be disturbed in anyway. He built a small fire to keep her warm, but didn’t dare touch her.

Remus was worried. He woke in Grimmauld Place after three days of hearing nothing from George. Anna had been kind enough to allow James and Lily to stay at the Lockwood home, stating that George had other priorities and that was the end of it, but Angelina had yet to make contact and it was becoming progressively more worrying as the hours slipped by. Sirius did his best to stay positive, but honestly, the Order was struggling to keep up with the strange happenings and disappearances and that was distraction enough. 

Remus was conscious that Valentine’s Day was coming up and even though there was a war going on, he had planned to spend it with his wife, the first one they would have after getting married, it was supposed to be an occasion, but now he feared he wouldn’t get his chance. 

Finally after five days, George apparated to Grimmauld Place for an Order meeting, barely giving his wife a second glance and strolling right up to Remus. The entire room, filled with Aurors, teachers, friends and Dumbledore himself, went silent.

‘I am sorry to bring this news, but Angie asked me to come to you immediately.’ George panted. ‘I’m afraid the situation has escalated and Angie has asked that you remain loyal to the Order. She will be waiting for you when you return home and she is resting for the time being. She is perfectly safe, Remus.’ George reassured him, before turning to Dumbledore. ‘I’m sorry Albus, but more pressing matters have come to our attention and I can no longer guarantee that my family will come to the aid of the Order. Adrianna.’ 

Anna didn’t hesitate and stood up to leave with her husband, but the room was in disarray. 

‘You can’t just leave.’ Tonks protested. ‘We need all the help we can get if we have any hope at all of defeating Voldemort. Angie and Darren are two of our best wands.’

‘I’m sorry Tonks,’ Anna spoke softly. ‘But that is the exact reason that we can no longer guarantee our help. I hope you can understand one day.’

‘So, that’s it then?’ Tonks was angry and honestly no one blamed her, she wasn’t the only one. ‘You’re just going to leave us to fight alone, without back up?’

‘Is there nothing we can do to change Angie’s mind?’ Dumbledore stood, calming the room only slightly.

‘I’m sorry Albus,’ George shook his head. ‘This has gone on long enough and we need to put a stop to it.’

There was a moment of silence.

‘I see.’ The headmaster nodded. ‘And what about you Remus? What is your choice in this matter?’

Remus froze. What was his choice? Angelina needed him to fight within the Order, but George was worried, enough that he came to Grimmauld Place to collect his wife.

‘I…’ Remus stuttered. He caught the tail end of exchanged looks between James and Sirius and suddenly what he needed to do was clearer than day. ‘I will stand by Angelina if she requires it of me, but until that happens, I will fight Voldemort with the Order. I will speak with Angelina tonight about this, thank you for letting me know George.’

‘Remus.’ Tonks implored, trying to make him see reason. ‘You can’t seriously be agreeing with this.’

‘No one is forced into fighting in this war, Tonks.’ Remus reasoned. ‘Angelina and her family have other matters that must be dealt with. I trust that if it is done so in enough time, then we may be able to count on their support.’

‘Of course, Remus.’ There was a sad expression to Anna’s face that made a knot tie even tighter in his stomach. ‘We’ll continue to provide shelter for anyone who needs it, including James and Lily, but I am sorry that it will be all we can do.’ 

Remus stood up and couldn’t help but hold Anna close, she was the woman who gave him Angelina and for that he would always remain thankful, but if she was about to walk to her death so willingly, then she had to know how much love he had for her. 

‘It’s not goodbye Remus.’ She whispered, trying to reassure him. Remus took a breath and pulled back with a small smile. 

‘Did she say anything else?’ Benji suddenly spoke up, startling most of the room. Jocelyne and David were giving each other grave looks. 

George sighed and nodded. ‘It’s your choice, Benji,’ he said, sadly. ‘But she won’t ask for your help.’ 

‘She doesn’t need to ask for mine.’ David stood up. ‘I’m sorry Dumbledore, I’ll do what I can for the Order, but I can’t abandon Angie now, she needs me.’

Dumbledore bowed his head in understanding. Benji and Jocelyne noted their own apologies and stood up to leave with the Lockwoods.

‘You’re abandoning us!’ Tonks cried. ‘Don’t you care?’

‘Of course we care!’ David snapped back. ‘But you have to try to understand what Angie means to us. Hers was the first kind face I ever saw in this world, I have a debt to pay and a friend to remain loyal to. I didn’t fight Voldemort the first time, this isn’t my war, but Angie’s is. That’s my fight.’ 

‘What do you mean?’ 

Remus felt the tension rise, the Lockwoods couldn’t reveal the truth without compromising so much, but David had too much pride to be seen as a coward.

‘It means Angelina is struggling,’ Remus tried to be the diplomat, despite everything in his being telling him to leave and go home to his wife. ‘She needs people around her that are going to make it easier for her. That should be enough for you.’ 

The room was silent for a moment. 

‘I wish you the very best of luck.’ Dumbledore said, putting an end to the conversation.

‘Thank you.’ George nodded and ushered everyone out of the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. Remus was the only one left standing who didn’t leave, he needed to talk to Angelina, five days of hearing nothing and this was what she did to him, he trusted her, but he needed answers.

Tonks stared daggers at him through most of the meeting, Sirius was just confused, but accepting of the situation. The meeting was long and when Remus was asked for his report concerning the werewolf community, he simply passed the question to Casper who was in a much better position to answer.

Remus would be on patrol a few times in the coming weeks and he could only pray they came and went quickly as he was already unable to bear the growing tension between himself and everyone else. 

It was a terrifying thought for everyone, they all had high hopes that the war would finally be won somehow, but the hope seemed to hinge on Angelina’s involvement, now that it was gone, the hope was fading fast. 

Remus quickly packed his things and left Grimmauld Place to return home to their cottage. He could see the light from inside his home flickering in the distance and almost ran right up to the door through the light rain to find everyone except Angelina sitting around the fire in the living room, looking solemn. 

‘Remus, she’s fine.’ George stood up immediately. ‘She’s upstairs and she’s resting. You should let her know that you’ve come home though.’

Remus didn’t have time to say anything, he raced taking the stairs two at a time and finally found his exhausted wife lying in bed, sleeping lightly. He collapsed onto his knees next to the bed, sighing in relief, stroking her pale face and feeling the happiness of her simple existence washing over him. 

‘Remus.’ He heard her whisper softly. Remus looked up to she her ocean blue eyes opening to see him and smile up at him. ‘My wonderful husband.’

‘My beautiful wife.’ Remus chuckled. ‘You made quite the impression at the meeting tonight and you weren’t even conscious.’ Angelina let out a small chuckle.

‘I’m sorry, Remus.’ She whispered, her fingers starting to entwine with his, feeling the wedding ring that told the world she loved him. 

‘If you’re referring to what your father told us, then we will have to find a moment to talk about things, but for now, please get some sleep.’

‘Stay with me.’ She begged softly.

Remus lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. ‘I’m just going to see your family out and then I will be back and I will hold you all through the night. I’ll never leave you Angelina, I made a promise.’

She smiled as much as she could, but it was a struggle for her, not that he minded, but he did need to go downstairs to sort things with the rest of the Lockwoods before he talked to his wife. 

Much to his surprise, by the time he went back down, everyone had already left. George left a note saying he would visit at some point during the week, but nothing else was said and Remus simply locked up and went back upstairs to find his wife had fallen asleep again.

Remus sighed and quietly undressed, climbing into bed behind Angelina and held her small, beautiful frame against his body. This woman that chose him above everyone else was a mystery and she had all of his love and admiration.

Remus woke the next morning feeling is anxiety rising, he hated that Angelina was still exhausted, but gave her the time she needed to sleep and rest after the five days she’d spent meditating. Understandably, everyone was now on edge, the Lockwoods were a powerful unit and the hope that the war would be over soon was only being held together by their presence and Angelina’s devotion to Remus. 

He hated thinking it, he hated wandering around the kitchen, tidying for the sake of tidying with the looming doubt that Angelina still loved him. Remus tried to push it from his mind, Angelina was a strong and ferocious woman, she was also incapable of being so cruel, of course, she loved him. Remus stopped for a moment, trying to regain a little faith, holding his temples and gently rubbing them.

The only thing making him stop was the sound of someone slumping down his stairs. He smiled quietly to himself and casually wandered around the bannister to find Angelina catching her breath, wrapped up in an old blanket and shivering. 

‘You know, you could have called down,’ Remus leaned over the wooden bannister, staring down at his exhausted wife who was now giving a light smile back to him. ‘I would have come up to see you.’

‘I know.’ She whispered, her voice not quite back to normal yet.

‘Then presumably the reason you’re out of bed is terribly important and will need your full attention which you cannot give in your condition.’ Remus moved himself around the stairs to sit on the step just below hers so she could see him better without straining. He held her cool hand and sighed, staring up at her deep blue eyes that seemed to age more and more every day. ‘Why are you up?’ Remus shuffled as close as he could, holding her hands in his to keep some part of her warm.

‘Because,’ Angelina’s blue eyes started to fill with tears. ‘I need you… I need you so much and it’s killing me to know what this war will do to us.’ 

Remus felt his chest inflate with pain. His wife sobbed for a moment and Remus wanted to cry as well. He gently pulled her down onto his lap, bringing the blanket to wrap around them both so that she was entirely covered in warmth. He placed a soft kiss to her forehead and breathed her light scent in as much as he could.

‘Angelina,’ he started, feeling the lump in his throat. ‘I know that you’ve worked out the prophecy,’ he felt her freeze for a second. ‘I know that we will lose far more than we can afford, but if the day should come where one of us has to say goodbye, we’ll be okay. I have lived such a wonderful life because of you, I fell in love with the most beautiful woman in the world and I got so incredibly lucky when she said she loved me just as much. We have laughed and danced and done so many happy things, I hope for more, but I am satisfied if this is all I am allowed.’ Remus stroked his fingers through her soft, blonde hair and absorbed the way she felt in his arms. ‘Our need for each other, our obsessive desire to see each other safe and happy, that is our love and our love is our strength. It’s got to be enough, hasn’t it?’

Angelina didn’t say anything and Remus couldn't find the will to push her for anything. She was scared, more so than she let on and he could feel it. They stayed where they were for a few moments longer before Remus decided to bring up something on his mind.

‘Valentine’s Day is coming up.’ He said. ‘The first one I can spend with my wife… we should make the effort to spend it together. I want to celebrate our first year of marriage and look back on a wonderful year spent with you, not look back on missed opportunities.’

‘Okay.’ Angelina breathed and snuggled closer to his chest. 

‘This is what we’re fighting for isn’t it?’ Remus kissed the top of her head, just feeling her existence close to his. ‘Why should we deny ourselves a taste of the freedom we’re fighting for?’ 

Remus could feel a determination in him that came directly from Angelina. She gave him the determination to look past his condition and pursue a normal life. She made him brave and he could never let think he wasn’t grateful.


	17. Valentine's Day Promise

George had woken early in the morning to run a few errands, Lily had been up as well and the both of them quietly went about their business in the kitchen. 

‘How’s Angie?’ Lily asked, sitting in her dressing gown and staring idly out of the back window to the garden that needed some work doing to it. 

‘Fine.’ George nodded, praying something else would come to him. ‘Harry?’

‘Fine.’ Lily nodded and gave a polite smile. It was silent for a moment or two. George tided up a little, just trying to keep his hands occupied so that he didn’t have to look at Lily anymore. ‘When did you start keeping so many secrets?’ She suddenly asked, making George freeze.

‘I’m sorry?’ He said, pushing his glasses a little further up his nose. 

‘We worked together for nearly twenty years and I never knew how little I really knew about you.’ Lily was smiling to herself in disbelief. 

George took a breath and tried not to make things any worse. No words seem to come to him and before he could do anything, Lily stood up and went upstairs to Angelina’s old room where she and James were staying.

George went to the back door to watch the light rain float across the sky, he couldn’t believe his life had come to this, relying on his youngest child to save the world he’d strived to build for her. 

He waited for five days for her to finish meditating, the last day was the most worrying, not quite understanding everything she was doing and worrying that she was trapped and he just didn’t know it. The second her eyes opened, she cried. Angie sobbed her heart out and curled up to try to contain the pain she felt. 

When she told him what she saw, his heart broke, she didn’t deserve it, she had done so much good that the world owed her something in return and it was looking less and less likely that she would get her rewards for a devoted and purely led life. She described each memory she had about the prophecy, every moment she had spent either with the orb or talking about it and the signs were clear. She knew exactly who the Last Wolf was and what they would do to end everything.

George took her back to the house and helped her relax into a deep sleep, one that would help her recover quicker and be able to do some good. He let her sleep for a few hours before waking her just enough to ask her what she wanted to do about Remus. She asked him to go to Grimmauld Place and tell him to stay put, the war of the Lockwoods was no place for someone so important, he was exactly where he needed to be and where everyone would benefit the most. 

The last thing his daughter asked of him, was to take a coin from the collection sitting on the kitchen table, one for everyone who chose to answer the call to fight. Angie would only call when she knew how to end things, but until that moment, they still had a lot of work to do and a lot of people to help. 

George had hoped her friends would stay with the Order, but she warned him not to try to change their decision, they had to choose otherwise they wouldn’t have courage when they needed it. And they would definitely need it.

Valentine’s Day was here and Remus tried not to be nervous, he tried to keep it simple and cosy and everything Angelina would prefer over a big celebration. He was making her, her favourite meal for dinner, roast chicken, carrots and mashed potatoes, it had been her favourite since she was a child and he loved making it for her when she least expected it.

He had spent the whole morning cleaning the house, watering the garden and thinking on how his life had led him to this moment. All the uncertainty of going to Hogwarts as a child, returning to teach, Angelina’s extraordinary arrival in his life, his attraction to her, the ways they had treated each other in love and anger, every moment shared without knowledge of the consequence. 

Remus now lived his life with absolute certainty that no matter what happened next, he was deserving of Angelina. 

He tidied away a few things in the garden and said good morning to Rilee who was just back from a long journey. Remus fed her and looked up at the house to see Angelina leaning against the frame of the back door with a mug of tea in her hand. She wore his longer green shirt and thick beige socks, her silky, blonde hair was put up into a loose bun and Remus felt his heart skip a few beats. 

He smiled and wandered over to her, feeling a little more normal for seeing her look so carefree. ‘Good morning,’ he grinned. ‘Garden’s finished, house is tidy and Rilee has dropped the post for today.’ He gestured the two or three letters in his hand. 

‘That is very good to hear.’ Angelina smiled back at him, taking a deep breath. ‘What’s next on your agenda?’

There was something in the way she spoke, something playful and he was enjoying the moment for what it was.

Remus stepped up to his wife, barely standing two feet away from her. ‘Are you wearing anything under that?’ Her cheeks lit up pink as her smile widened, making Remus’s chest inflate with desire. 

‘You’d better find out before my husband gets home.’ She raised her eyes playfully, sauntering back into the kitchen and making him chuckle. 

‘Your husband?’ Remus stepped inside as well and leaned against the door frame the same way she had down, placing the post down and shoving his hands in his pockets. ‘I heard he was a beast of a man on occasion.’

‘Yeah,’ Angelina washed her mug out and bit her lip. ‘That’s what I like about him.’

Remus laughed and watched her for a few moments, moving around the kitchen tidying up a few things. He thought briefly about the age gap between them, ten years, that was it, but she far surpassed him in so many ways, she was wise beyond both their years, she was braver than he’d ever been in his life and she never valued things like money or jobs or status. Angelina valued love above anything else. 

Remus took a deep breath and walked up behind her, slipping his hands around her waist, placing soft kisses from her temple down to her shoulder and listening to the small hums of approval coming from his wife. 

‘Give me today.’ Remus whispered, feeling her warm body next to his. ‘Just this one day to forget everything outside of this house.’ He dragged his teeth over her earlobe and felt her hand drift up into his hair. ‘I don’t want to think about war, or duty, or anything that doesn’t involve us just being together.’ Remus let his fingers drift to the exposed skin on her thighs, making her breath hitch as she smiled into the movement. ‘Angelina, give me this one day with you.’

He listened to her breath a very heavy ‘yes’ and without hesitating, he spun her around and made love to her right there on their kitchen counter. It was brief, Remus not realising how much he needed her, they smiled and laughed and wished it wasn’t over, but Remus wasn’t ready to stop yet. He scooped Angelina up in his arms, kissing her beautiful face, whispering how much he loved her and placed her down on the bed, making love to her over and over again.

They stayed in bed for most of the day and in the late afternoon when the wind died down and the air was a little warmer, Remus grabbed a few blankets, a couple of chairs and a few bottles of butterbeer. They sat beside the lake, drank, laughed and told each other they loved each other over and over again until the sun began to set behind the mountains in the distance. 

Remus let his fingers drift over her ankles as her legs draped over his lap, he memorised every patch of skin on her legs and watched her eyes close as the sun streaked over her features. 

‘Are you happy?’ Remus asked, watching her wonderful womanly smile stretch across her face. 

‘Don’t I seem it?’ Angelina’s blue orbs found his as she adjusted herself to watch him.

‘You seem… content.’ Remus leaned in a little closer, holding his hand out to hold hers. 

She frowned just a little and tilted her head forwards to see him better. ‘Content? Not happy, but satisfied?’

Remus smiled gently. ‘What’s on your mind?’

Angelina sucked in a deep breath and looked out at the sun that was just peeking out from behind the mountains. 

‘I know how this all will end,’ she said, sadness and guilt from choices she hadn’t made yet, laced her voice. ‘I can change my name a thousand times, but I’ll still be a Lockwood… “The Last Wolf will end the bloodline. A Dynasty will burn to ash. No Lockwood will be left standing.” That’s what the prophecy said, but you know that. We both know that it doesn’t matter what choice we make, at some point there will be nothing left to love.’ She turned back and he watched the tears falling silently from her ocean blue eyes, nearly all the light left from the sun was gone. ‘Remus I have lived my life knowing that the most important thing is this world is love, you know it as well, we built a home around it, we’re building our marriage, our life around it. We’ve not said it in so many words, but if it’s true and I die at the end of this war-‘

‘Angelina-‘

‘If I die TO end the war,’ Angelina took a breath and Remus could feel himself starting to lose control over his emotions. ‘Please just promise me one thing, one thing if nothing else goes our way… make every choice with love at the centre of it, no matter what, act with love and know that I will understand. I will always understand how hard this will be, but I will never blame you for making those choices, because I know my husband, Remus Lupin did his very best… no one can say otherwise, I guarantee it.’ 

Remus hadn’t even realised he was crying. The light from the sun was gone and the cooling air of night surrounded them. It had been a beautiful day, but now it was over and reality was about to set in. He brought his wife into his arms, he kissed her with all the passion and love he had inside of him and he held her close. 

‘Angelina, I will never break another promise to you,’ he stuttered over his words. ‘So, if this is all you ask of me, then I will do everything in my power to do as you ask. I’ll make every choice out of love and I will be happy with our life as it stands… it is far more than I ever felt I deserved.’

Soon the night air became too much for them and Remus took Angelina inside, they ate dinner in front of the fire and barely spoke a word beyond Remus reading to his wife. 

He looked down at her sleeping figure, her soft, blonde hair, full, womanly face, the small scars that were hardly noticeable, the nasty bite from where he’d hurt her, her scarred and slightly rough hands from years of field research, all of it made the woman he loved that much more beautiful. Angelina Lupin. 

Remus lifted her into his arms and took her to bed, kissing her sleepy lips, letting her feel his body next to her and watching Angelina slip into a deep sleep, knowing she was safe and there was no need to worry about her while she was next to him.


	18. Apart Again

David did everything in his power to comply with Umbridge’s wishes, but it was starting to become ludicrous, it got to the point where the students weren’t even allowed to have any interaction with the creatures he was trying to teach them about. David had had enough the moment he heard about Trelawney being sacked, he raced to the courtyard to see the pour woman tripping over her bags that Filch was piling up.

‘Hey!’ He yelled at the caretaker. ‘What’s going on? What are you doing?’ He grabbed the last bag from Filch, standing between him and Trelawney. David’s eyes found Umbridge and fury burned inside him. 

‘Sybil.’ McGonagall rushed over to comfort Trelawney, but all David could think about was how furious he was. 

‘Something to say?’ Umbridge tested them both.

‘Oh, there is plenty I would like to say.’ McGonagall spoke up, making sure that Trelawney was well-taken care of. 

‘But you won’t.’ Umbridge smiled and David was ready to launch himself at her. ‘David?’

‘Professor.’ David growled. ‘My name is Professor Wales and you would do well to recognise that title.’ He stepped towards her, easily brushing Filch to one side given David’s bulky size. ‘You would also do well to remember the name Lockwood.’ He watched terror flash over her face for just a split second, but it was enough for him. 

‘Are you threatening me?’ Umbridge squeaked. David took the last step towards her.

‘If she hears about you stepping out of line,’ David growled, quietly so that the crowd of students couldn’t hear. ‘You’ll wish you had the luxury of a fair warning. Believe me when I say, I am much more reasonable than her, but I will no longer tolerate you at this school.’

Just as she was about to reply, the heavy doors of the castle swung open and the headmaster strode out. He stopped beside David and placed a hand on his shoulder.

‘This is not the time, David.’ He said. ‘Remember your place.’ 

It took a moment to actually step back, but David did so upon remembering he was no good to Angelina if he went around upsetting Umbridge. His place was beside his best friend. 

Dumbledore dispensed with the situation and David understood his position, the best chance they had at calming the situation and not adding fuel to the fire was to comply with the rules they still had power over. Trelawney was allowed to stay at the school for the time being, but he did wonder how long that would last. 

The last thing he heard was Harry rushing towards Dumbledore who was disappearing off into the crowds. 

David went back to his room and did his best to calm down. Never did it feel more of a struggle not to drink than in the moments he felt he failed. He failed Trelawney, she lost her job and Umbridge was allowed to get away with it. He promised himself to go and see her that night, maybe make her some tea and keep her company for a while, she so rarely had company or friends to stand by her and it was a shame as far as he was concerned. She wasn’t a bad person really, just… intense at the wrong times. 

It was difficult to say the least, a constant and internal fight, the battle for control and Darren was losing. He’d been on the bench pretty much all season, claiming one injury after another, but he no longer cared for Quidditch the way he used to, he had bigger concerns. It was like a constant screaming in his head, constant and high pitched, a buzzing sensation that covered his entire being.

His blackouts were getting worse and he was waking up in places he knew he shouldn’t have been, places he knew there was trouble and yet he was always alone and exhausted. Darren meditated every day on the edge of the cliff outside his home, he focused on the memories that were truly his own, the ones that made him happiest and clung onto them with everything he had, but somehow, he always felt himself slipping.

Darren thought about going to see his sister, his parents, even going to St Mungo’s, anywhere where he might have found someone to help, but every time he thought it, his body felt like lead. He stayed in bed most days, not daring go anywhere public. Sometimes, when he felt he could, Darren would go to the training ground and train alone, doing basic drills just to keep his body healthy and fit.

The days all began melting into one and he found himself forgetting basic things like how to fly, it was as if his body and mind had begun to truly slip away from him. He denied it at every turn, but in moments of clarity he remembered the deal he’d made with Remus, if all else failed, he had that deal.

Valentine’s Day had been wonderful with Remus, to have that one day where I felt like I could be myself and love the way I wanted to love was everything I needed to ensure my plan would go ahead, but there was one thing I needed from him that I couldn’t ask on Valentine’s Day. 

‘Remus?’ I said, wandering into the living room where my husband was sprawled out over the sofa reading a thick book. ‘Can I have a moment?’

He looked up and immediately marked a page in his book and put it to one side. ‘What is it?’

I gestured for him to follow me into the kitchen where I had been brewing his Wolfsbane for that month. I grabbed the coin I needed him to take and placed it in his hand. 

‘What’s this?’ Remus looked down at the coin and frowned. ‘Why are you giving me this?’ I took a breath, but before I went to speak, Remus answered his own question. ‘You’re leaving again.’

I exhaled and looked up at his worried blue eyes. ‘Yes.’ I said.

‘Where are you going?’ Remus was getting annoyed, but he wasn’t stopping me from going or asking me to stay. 

‘Bulgaria.’ I tried to tell him calmly. ‘One of the letters was from Aleksander, they’ve been having trouble with a few dark wizards setting up camp near the Sanctuary, there’s a good chance it’s Death Eaters from the Azkaban breakout.’

Remus nodded, frowning as he leaned back against the kitchen counter, he inhaled deeply and closed his eyes for a moment. ‘Are you taking anyone with you?’

‘My parents.’ 

Remus made his surprise known by his eyes snapping open to look at me, the table the only thing between us. He didn’t speak for a few moments and I just wanted to know what he was thinking without intruding.

‘You didn’t answer my question,’ he said. ‘Why are you giving me this?’

I stepped towards him, picking up the other coin that I would always keep with me from now on. ‘If you run into trouble, real trouble, you can call to me and I will find you.’

Remus hated this, he hated me leaving to go anywhere dangerous anyway, but I wasn’t giving him any kind of time line and that was more infuriating. ‘Why can’t you stay?’

‘You know why.’

Remus nodded. We both knew he was only asking with the faintest of hope, but I understood that he felt the need to ask anyway.

‘When will you leave?’ Remus held the coin tight and shoved it in his pocket, looking up at me. 

‘Tomorrow morning.’ I placed my own coin in my pocket as well and folded my arms. ‘There’s a portkey that goes straight to Sophia, we’ll fly the rest of the way.’

I could see the question just behind Remus’s eyes, I knew he was about to ask it.

‘When will you come back?’ His voice cracked a little as he tried to keep his emotions in check and I was barely holding on as well.

‘The second I feel I can, I will be back by your side, alive and well. I promise.’ I slowly moved towards him and slid my hands up his chest. I felt his guard dropping, enough that I could kiss him softly.

‘Promise me.’ Remus whispered against my lips, his hands curled around my waist. I frowned, not quite knowing what he meant, but suddenly feeling his overwhelming, desperate desire.

‘Remus.’ I breathed.

‘Promise me, properly.’ He begged quietly. ‘Just once more.’ 

I wasn’t sure what happened, but I felt somehow sadder, like this was it, everything I knew was going to end tomorrow morning when I left for Bulgaria. I kissed Remus softly, I ran my hands over every part of his body, I let him do the same and we committed each other to memory all through the night, needing each other in a new way, to accept that if this was our last night together then there would be no night like it.


End file.
